


If you bring me coffee, I’ll love you forever

by lazomness



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - Professors, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Getting Together, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst, M/M, POV Keith (Voltron), Slow Build, Strangers to Lovers, Texting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-07-28 08:21:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16237760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazomness/pseuds/lazomness
Summary: It was Keith’s first day at college. Well, technically, it wasn’t, but it was his first day as a teacher. He hoped that after all the years as a student and all the time working on his PhD, he’d be used to the early mornings, the crowds and the noise of a typical college day. Plot twist: he was not.Luckily for him, his new coworker, Professor McClain, would provide him with nice homemade coffee every morning. Who’d had thought that, besides his morning fuel to keep functioning, that was too the way to his heart.*OR: a series of things that happen in a college office shared by two professors falling in love.





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> The only location of this fic is the office shared by the two of them (besides the beginning of chapter one), as if it was a theatre play. All that happens between them is narrated through the conversations and interactions they had there.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! ^^

Getting up that early was the first thing Keith was regretting already. It was the first day of his new stage as a professor at a well renowned University. He actually had made it.

 

He had met with the boss department the day before to arrange and clarify all the questions before his incorporation to Altean College. Campus environment wasn’t foreign to him, but he had got his degrees and PhD at another University, so he had yet to get to know the place and the people.

 

He didn’t want to be late his first day, so in order to avoid any last minute delay, he had gotten up early. Painfully early. So early that he was in front of the door of his supposedly new office room at 7.15 am, 45 minutes before the arranged time.

 

 _I could have slept 45 minutes more this morning_ , was the only thing running through his mind.

 

He decided that we’d wait there for the other person to arrive. He had been told that Professor McClain should be there by 8 am, but the was holding the hope that maybe he’d arrive earlier.

 

He didn’t.

 

Keith spent that extra time waiting outside the door, sitting in one of the two ragged chairs, lazy browsing through his phone and trying not to fall asleep. He was so zoned out of his surroundings that he jumped a little when he looked up and saw a smiling face mere inches from his own.

 

“Hello there”. His grin was impossibly bright for that time in the morning.

 

“Uhm…”, he blinked in confusion, “hi”.

 

“You must be my new colleague”.

 

Keith got up from the chair and excused himself. “Sorry, I was… uhm, distracted”. He offered a hand. “Keith Kogane”.

 

“Nice to meet you, Kogane”, the other shook his hand vigorously, “I’m professor McClain, but you can call me Lance”.

 

“Right. Nice to meet you, Lance. You can call me Keith too”.

 

“Nah, I think I like Kogane better”, he smiled and turned around towards the door. Lance took the keys from his front pocket and proceeded to open the office. “Welcome to our little but cozy place”.

 

Keith didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t definitely that. The place was chaotic.

 

He stood by the door waiting for Lance to do some explanations about how things worked there and to make some room for him to go ahead. The room was filled with multiple stuff, mostly papers and office supplies. There was a big bookcase that occupied all the surface of the right wall, filled with books, more files and boxes.

 

“So, this is my place”, he pointed at table placed next to the window. Above it, there were a computer and some piles of papers that invaded almost all the surface of the other table in front of his own. “And… that place over there buried under all those files would be yours”.

 

“Ok”, followed Keith, not knowing exactly how to proceed. There was literally no space for a single pen on that desk.

 

“Yeah, sorry, I should had tidied up a little last week… Let me grab these things and make some space”.

 

They spent about ten minutes removing all the stuff from Keith’s work table, not really organizing anything; Lance just put some piles over the other piles, so he just ended with less piles of papers than before but twice bigger. Once the table was empty, Lance grabbed a cloth from a drawer and cleaned the dust from the furniture.

 

“There it is”, smiled Lance.

 

“Alright”, doubted Keith, “so, do I get a computer or something?”

 

“Oh right, shit”, he clearly had forgotten about that.

 

“It’s ok, I brought my laptop today, but I guessed there would be one here”.

 

“Yes, you’re totally right. Let me found one you can work with”.

 

“You don’t have to bother, tell me who I have to talk to and I’ll ask. It’s not really your job”.

 

“It is, believe me”. Lance held him by the shoulders and entered on teacher mode. “Let me teach you the first and most important lesson about this institution: if you request something through the ordinary routes, you better be prepared to wait _at least_ for two weeks to get it done, so you’ve got to learn the _unofficial_ methods. You better write it down”.

 

“I… I’ll keep that in mind”. _Why is he so close_.

 

The other released him and motioned towards the door. “Come with me. I know a room used as a little warehouse near here that where we can found some stuff”. Keith nodded and followed him. This was going to be more difficult than expected.

 

Almost half an hour later, they were back with the best computer pieces they could find.

 

“I told you we could arrange a functioning thing out of that amount of garbage!”

 

“I wouldn’t define it as ‘functioning’ yet”. Keith corrected with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Ouch! Your little faith in my abilities hurts me, Kogane”, dramatized Lance putting a hand on his heart.

 

Keith wasn’t the type of person that laughed or even smiled a lot, but for some reason he couldn’t help but chuckle at that. His coworker seemed a cheerful and nice person, the least he could do was try not to look dead inside like he probably was at that time in the morning.

 

“Right”, Keith shook his head, “let’s get this plugged in to see if it works”.

 

“Wanna bet?”. Lance was looking at him with a teasing smirk. For some weird impulse escaping all logic, he rolled his eyes and took the offer. “Alright. You’re on”. _Stupidest bet ever_.

 

They spent the next minutes arranging all the wires of the computer parts they had found, cleaning as well the layer of dust that covered most of them.

 

“What are we wining here by the way?”, asked Keith, realizing that they actually didn’t state the terms of their deal.

 

“Uhm… I didn’t think about it…”, Lance paused for a moment considering the options, “how about the loser brings the winner coffee for the next week?”

 

“Really? You call that a bet?”. _What are you doing Keith, you merely know the guy._ _Just agree with whatever he suggests._

 

Lance’s face lit up and Keith stomach did a thing. “It’s that so? How about a month? Wait, how about all semester?”.

 

“Al semester sounds good, if you think you can stick with it”. _Nailed it._

 

“You’ll be the one bringing _me_ coffee, so that doesn’t really matters”.

 

“Yeah, you wish. Is that a floppy disk drive? This shit is _ancient_.”, pointed out Keith, “This is so not going to work”.

 

“As I was saying… you have little faith on me”. Lance finished with the mouse’s wire. “…aaand voilà”.

 

He pressed the power button and a little blue light turned on around it, as the fan's noise started.

 

“Ha! Told you!”. Lance was about to make a happy dance but was interrupted buy Keith’s hand grabbing his arm.

 

“Hold on a second. The screen isn’t turning on”.

 

“Yes it is! You are doing it wrong”. After triple checking all the plugs and pushing like ten times the screen’s power button, Lance gave up. “Ok, maybe it’s not turning on, but the tower is working just fine so I still win”.

 

“No you don’t, that wasn’t the deal. The whole computer had to work”, said Keith with a cocky smirk on his mouth and his arms crossed. “Bring me my coffee, professor McClain”.

 

It probably was because of the sunlight getting in through the window reflecting on Lance’s face, because Keith would had sworn that for a moment Lance’s face was pinker than before. _Yeah, it must be that_.

 

“Alright”, gave up Lance with his hands up, “since you’re the new one here, I’ll let you have this one”.

 

“You say it like I hadn’t actually won”. Lance didn’t respond to that, instead he moved to his desk and opened his backpack. To Keith's surprise, he extracted from it two thermos, one blue and one red.

 

“Here”, he handed the red one to him, “your dubiously earned coffee. There are some sugar cubes in the second drawer of my table if you want”.

 

Keith grabbed the thermos and cautiously loosened the cap, letting the smell of what was inside fill the room. “I was going to complain about how you tricked me into a stupid bet just to give me a coffee you already had, but…”, he smelled closing his nose to the aperture of  the container, “this is too good, I don’t even care if you did it on purpose”. He sat down on the old dusty chair next his desk and took a sip.

 

After a while of being focused on his coffee, Keith looked up. “What?”. Lance was gazing at him with an amused look.

 

“Nothing.” Lance looked away and moved some papers as if he had been caught doing something that wasn’t supposed to. “I’m glad you like it. The coffee at the cafeteria is shit so I always bring a thermos with the coffee I make at home. I’ll guess I’m bringing two for now on”.

 

“You did it today anyway”.

 

“Yeah, but that was because it was your first day and I’m nice”, he smiled wide from his spot.

 

“mmhhmm”, Keith nodded taking another sip of coffee. He turned at the other man and saw the most radiant smile he’d ever seen. _The sunlight again_.

 

“So…”, resumed Keith after a moment of drinking in silence looking at the bookshelf in front of him, “the screen situation has to be solved yet”.

 

Lance was typing something on his own computer and answered distractedly. “Uhm, yeah. Hold on a sec”. He seemed like he had finished after some more typing and a couple of angry ‘enters’, returning his full attention to Keith. “C’mon, lets go grab another one”.

 

“Alright”, said Keith, leaving the empty thermos on his desk and following Lance out of the office. They spent only ten minutes this time searching for a functional screen, but Lance had offered himself to guide Keith around the building, enlightening him about the tampered vending machine on the top floor, the best bathroom to use and the best spots to hang out without being disturbed.

 

After almost an hour later, they were back to test the new screen. Their faces relaxed with relieve when the Windows XP home page lit up ready to be logged in.

 

“Mmmm…”, hummed Lance, “do you have by any chance the institutional user and passcode yet?”

 

“You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me”, said Keith with defeat in his voice, resting his forehead on his desk next to the keyboard.

 

“I told you, man: two weeks to have anything done here”, tried to comfort Lance patting Keith’s back. “Go to the hiring department and ask for them, but I’m afraid you’ll have to bring your laptop for now”.

 

“Ok”, mumbled Keith looking up again. Lance was staring at him and chuckled when their gazes met. “What?”

 

“You have, ermm”, he pointed to his own forehead, “your desk imprinted on your forehead”.

 

“Oh… great”. Lance laughed louder now as Keith rubbed the mark, trying to erase it quicker with little rate of success. “Stop laughing at me”. _Your laugh it’s too beautiful to deal with it right now._

 

“So, when are your classes starting?”, asked Lance changing de subject.

 

“I start with my first group of Biostatistics next Monday. I have to teach a part of Meta-analysis but it’s later on the semester.”

 

“Cool. Are you nervous about it?”

 

“Kind of… I mean, I’ve already taught some classes during my PhD but this is different.”

 

“Yeah, I know. It’s my third semester here, but I was all stress and anxiety when I arrived here. You’ll do great”.

 

“Thanks, I hope so”.

 

Keith opened his laptop and both worked for a while in silence until he heard Lance shutting down the computer and watched him grab his jacket from the hanging. “I have to get going for today. I’ve got a meeting in half an hour at the other end of campus and I don’t think I’ll need to come here after.” He paused and looked for something in his pocket. “Here”. It was a key with a blue shark kay-chain. “Lock the door when you leave and make a copy of it if you have time later. Just be here tomorrow at eight so I can get in here”.

 

Keith extended his palm and looked at it. “Yeah, sure. I’ll go get a copy this afternoon. Thanks.”

 

“Right”. They shared a look for a moment, Keith looking up at him from his chair and Lance under the door’s lintel, rubbing the nape of his neck. “See you tomorrow, Kogane!”.

 

“Don’t forget my coffee”, he said with a smirk.

 

“I won’t”. Lance winked just before closing the door and leavig, and Keith’s stomach did a thing for the second time that day. _Stop it already, you’re gay is showing_.

 

 

 


	2. Day 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith survived to his first class and gay-panics a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it’s the only location of this story, I had the need to make a drawing of the office to make easier for you to visualize the place when I describe some action.

 

It was 8.13 am on a Tuesday. Keith had arrived 5 minutes before and was currently blinking slowly at a blank Word document on his laptop.

 

“I think I need it now”.

 

“We are moody today, aren’t we?”, noticed Lance from his sit.

 

“Yeah… Sorry, just tired I guess”.

 

“What would you do without me”. Lance grinned and lowered down to find his backpack. “Here”.

 

Keith extended his arm across their desk to grab the red thermos he’d been given since day one without fail. He was especially sleepy that day, so he was caught off guard when he felt a spark of electricity between them the instant their hands brushed.

 

Lance chuckled and said, “It looks like we have… chemistry”.

 

Keith forgot how to breathe for a moment and coughed. “I don’t think static electricity counts as chemistry”.

 

“Yeah, but I thought you could appreciate a joke”.

 

“I _will_ appreciate a joke, when you make a good one”, he raised an eyebrow and watched Lance turning to his computer again.

 

“Rude”.

 

Keith repressed a laugh and tried to focus on his Word document instead of thinking about how cute Lance’s pout was and how much he would like to count all those freckles on Lance’s cheeks and… _Oh my god Keith. Just focus on the damn document_. He opened the coffee, took a long sip and leaned back on the chair. When his mind came back from the coffee astral plane, he glanced briefly at Lance and saw how he was looking at him with an amused smile.  They both quickly looked away and went back to work trying not to overthink too much the meaning of that exchange.

 

He heard Lance clearing his voice before asking. “How was the class yesterday by the way? It was your first, wasn’t it?”

 

“Mhm”, he nodded. “It was surprisingly well.”

 

“Glad to hear that”.

 

“I was a little nervous at first, but the students were really receptive. They even made some questions during the lecture. I think I didn’t screwed up at least”.

 

“I’m sure whatever you do the students will be grateful”. Keith raised a questioning eyebrow to Lance. “Professor Haggar was the last person to teach that subject, and from what I heard, she was…”, he looked around as if they were been observed, and whispered, “… kind of a bitch”.

 

Keith couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Well, I hope I am an improvement”.

 

“Like I said, whatever you do will be better that have her around. She retired last semester and the dean almost threw a ‘Don’t fucking come back’ party. I kinda suspect that she secretly did, but I wasn’t invited”, he pouted and Keith tried not to stare too much at him.

 

…

 

They actually managed to get some job done that morning and a couple of hours later Keith decided to take a well-deserved break. He reached for his backpack and took a plastic box lunch full of cookies. He opened it and put it over a pile of papers in the middle of their desks.

 

“Want some?” he asked, already munching on one.

 

“Actually, yes”. He wasted no time and grabbed two of them, taking a bite. “Mmmhhh, they’re good. Did you make them?”

 

“Not really. A friend came to visit yesterday and brought some he had made”.

 

“A friend? Who made you cookies? No wonder why are you so tired today”, said Lance wiggling his eyebrows, as if he was implying something else.

 

“Shut up, it’s not like that”. Keith felt his cheeks getting warmer.

 

Lance laughed at how easy was to make Keith flustered. “Sure, sure, whatever you say”.

 

“It is not! We are like siblings since we were kids”. _Why am I explaining this to him?_

 

“Hey”, Lance lifted his hands showing surrender, “I believe you, I was just messing with you. The cookies are good tho”.

 

“Yeah”, he breathed out, “they’re too good to be healthy. I let him know you liked them”.

 

Lance grabbed another cookie and shoved it in his mouth while pounding on his keyboard again. “So...”, he continued, “besides this _friend_ that make you cookies, any significant one in your life?”.

 

“Erm… not right now. No”. Keith was surprised how straightforward Lance was about personal questions, but he decided he didn’t mind them that much. “Been single for a while”. He heard Lance humming as an indication that he had heard the response. _Ask him now, you’ll never have a better opportunity to ask without being odd about it_. “What about you?”, he managed to fake an disinterested tone and internally thanked whoever god was nearest for putting Lance far enough to not be able to hear his racing heartbeat.

 

“Same”, confessed Lance nonchalantly giving Keith a sense of relief. “Well, actually I’ve got a date next Saturday, but I’m not holding too much hope on that one”.

 

“Oh.” _Of course he goes on dates, why wouldn’t he_. “Why is that?”

 

“Well, I don’t really know her. It’s kind of a blind date arranged by a mutual friend tired of me complaining about my singleness.” He chuckled at the memory.  “That kind of arrangements don’t usually go well”.

 

Keith swallowed his disappointment and tried to be cool about it. “You never know. Good luck I guess”.

 

“Yeah, thanks”.

 

They silently agreed that the break was over and focused again on their duties.

 

…

 

Half an hour later, Keith heard the sound of a zipper and looked up to see Lance wearing his jacket and hanging his backpack on his right shoulder.

 

“You leaving?”

 

“Yeah, I have my first class with the Demography group in a moment and I usually go to the pool afterwards. Besides,” he grabbed another cookie, “today I should burn all these extra made-in-heaven butter calories you just forced me to eat, Kogane”.

 

“Excuse me? I never forced you to do anything”, said Keith with a noticeable fake offended gesture.

 

“Not technically, but making them so good practically obliges me to eat them”. Keith rolled his eyes. _Why have I a crush on this guy again? Wait no, who said that. It’s not a crush. Shut up._

 

“You’ll have to blame Shiro then”.

 

“Ohhh, so Shiro is the name of your ‘ _friend_ ’?”, he remarked the word friend with finger quotes.

 

“I swear to god, McClain… Don’t you have some students to annoy with your nonsense today?”

 

“I have”, he walked around the table and poked Keith on the shoulder, “but you’re way funnier to annoy. Besides, your furrowed face it’s too cute to stop provoking it”.

 

“Oh, c’mon!”, Keith extended his leg and kicked him softly on his calf, not wanting to make any real damage, “just leave already! You’re gonna be late”.

 

“Nah, I have time”, he laughed as he headed to the door. “Wait, I almost forgot”. Lance turned around and unzipped the small pocket of his bag. He took something from it and handed it to Keith. “I got you something”.

 

Keith extended his palm both hesitantly and excited to see what Lance was talking about. He felt a soft item on his hand and took a closer look at it. It was a key-chain with a little otter plushie attached to it. He stroked it with his thumb while a warm feel was rising on his chest. “Uhm, thanks”.

 

“It… it was nothing”. Lance rubbed the hair at the back of his head, gesture that Keith was starting to recognize as a sing of nervousness. “I went to my sister’s town last weekend and there was a festival. I noticed that since you made your copy of the key you didn’t have one and I saw those little plush toys at one stand and… I hope you like otters, I didn’t know what animal to choose…”

 

“Yeah, thank you. I like it, it’s… uhmm… cute. You didn’t have to get me anything but… thanks”. _Really eloquent, Keith_.

 

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds until Lance turned around again and opened the door. “I should get going now.”

 

“Yeah, you should. Have a good first class”.

 

“Thanks, it’ll be fine. See you tomorrow.” He was already half gone, and turned his head around to smile at Keith. “Don’t lose the otter, Kogane!”. He closed the door after him without leaving time for Keith to reply.

 

He stared down again at the gift and smiled softly. “I won’t”, he whispered. _Shit, that’s why I have a crush on him. I’m screwed._ He totally was.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes Keith, you're crushing hard


	3. Day 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new character is introduced and they talk about dates ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter just in time for Keith's birthday!!

 

“C’mon, it couldn’t be that bad”.

 

“Yes _it was_ ”. Lance stopped paying attention to the PowerPoint document he was editing and turned to Keith. “It was the worst pizza human kind has ever tasted”.

 

“It is still pizza, Lance. How bad can it be?”

 

“I don’t think you understand. Hunk was crying, Keith. _Crying_ ”.

 

“How did you mess up so bad anyways?”, he asked with a chuckle and an amused face.

 

“Well, that night Hunk’s girlfriend, Shay, was joining us for dinner. He had told me that she didn’t like cheese that much, so I went to the pizzeria app and made a customized one. With all my best intention, I removed all the cheese, including mozzarella, and I put some ingredients on in that I thought went fine together. Turned out tuna, tons of basil and barbecue sauce don’t mix that well.” Keith was laughing at that point. “And the thing was that without any cheese on it, the pizza was more like a barbecue sauce puddle with the other stuff floating on it”.

 

“You can’t be serious”, he managed to say between giggles.

 

Lance got up from his chair and turned around the table towards Keith, phone in hand.

 

“ I think I have a picture from that day”. He scrolled through his gallery for a minute and then handled it to Keith. “Here”.

 

Keith took the phone and looked at the screen. There was a picture of three people. On the right side of a dinner table was Lance with a bitted slice of pizza on his hand, trying to look at the camera. Mouth open from laughing out loud.

 

At the other side where the other two, whom he deduced had to be Shay and Hunk. The girl was laughing too. She had another slice of pizza that was half on her hand, half bended down, with all its ingredients and sauce dropping on the plate underneath. Then there was a man beside her with his hands covering his face. Right next to Lance was an empty chair and Keith was making a titanic effort to keep his curiosity under control and not ask about who was the person taking the picture. _It is none of my business._

 

“That guy here is Hunk and that’s Shay. Look at that horrendous chimera disguised as pizza there”. It looked horrible, that was true.

 

“Did you eat it?”.

 

“We made it through half of it because we were starving, but we threw away the remainder”. Lance was going back to his sit, wiping with his hand a tear falling down his left cheek. “We ended up having cereal with orange juice. It was the only edible thing left at Nyma’s”.

 

So there was a girl. Keith put on his best ‘I’m not jealous’ face and asked, pretending little interest. “Who’s Nyma?”

 

“She is… was my girlfriend at that time. We broke up almost three years ago after being together for four”, he rested himself back on the chair, “it was pretty tough for a few months”.

 

“Yeah, I can imagine”. Keith had never lasted that long in a relationship, but the least he could do was show empathy for Lance. “How was your date, by the way?”, he asked remembering what Lance had told him the week before.

 

“The date?”.

 

“You said you had one the other day”. Keith couldn’t help but feel a little guilty; he was really hoping for a negative answer.

 

“Yes, I did. It went alright I guess”.

 

“You guess?”.

 

“I mean… the date was fine and the girl was beautiful and all but… I don’t know. I wasn’t _feeling_ it… like, we didn’t have a connection or something”.

 

“Maybe you just have to give it a second chance”. _What are you doing? Stop encouraging him to go on more dates._

 

“I don’t know… I’ll think about it. Maybe”. Lance started working again and Keith thought for a moment that the topic was over. The truth was that he couldn’t be more wrong. “It isn’t like the date was _bad_ ,” resumed Lance again, “but it wasn’t great either. It was more like ‘standard’: we went to a movie, we had dinner, we talked about our jobs and families, we smiled politely… I accompanied her to the taxi stand, wished her a good night and went home.” Keith nodded to let him know that he was still listening. “When I got home I went to the kitchen for a late snack, saw a bag of Doritos in the cupboard and my only thought was that I would probably had more fun eating Doritos on my pajamas watching something stupid on Netflix”.

 

“That sounds better to me actually”, he half joked half confessed.

 

Lance stared at him for a couple of seconds, then he smiled and looked away. _Why is he always doing that?_

 

 “Anyways… like I was saying, it was ‘meh’. At least when you have a really bad one you have a story to tell, like that time I was abandoned handcuffed.”

 

Keith was sure he hadn’t heard correctly. “You were what?”

 

“Handcuffed. I’ll spare you the details, but once I had a date, it was actually with Nyma before we started dating properly, and long story short, she handcuffed me to some streetlamp and let me there for hours. I kinda deserved it tho…”

 

“I don’t even want to ask…”, said Keith rolling his eyes. “And did you date her after that?”

 

Lance shook his head and smiled to himself. “Yeah, it was… complicated.” He rested his elbows on the table and looked at Keith. “C’mon, how was your worst one? I’m the only one being laughed at here and I feel lonely on this side”.

 

“It’s not my fault you get yourself in laughable situations”. They stared at each other with a look that made Keith realize he was not getting out of this one.

 

“Spill, Kogane”.

 

He breathed out in surrender and started talking. “I hadn’t really had dates that bad. I had boring ones and kinda weird ones, but not funny stories. I think the one I hated the most was the one with that guy that didn’t stop talking about their exes. Not just one ex, there were multiple stories about multiple people he had dated. He didn’t even asked me one single question… He did all the fucking talk while I was in front of him dying inside thinking about what excuse I could say to run away from there. And… I think that’s it. Sorry to disappoint”.

 

“That was it? The one I told you about wasn’t even the worst one!”.

 

“Worse than getting handcuffed on the street?”

 

“Well, in that one with Nyma at least we had fun before… the incident. But I’m pretty sure my worst and most surreal date was the one with that guy I met at the pool”. _Wait, did he said ‘guy’?_. If Lance wanted to get Keith’s attention, that was definitely the best way. “We talked a couple of times after swimming and he asked me out. He was kinda hot so, why not.” _He totally said guy_. “The thing is… what he did…”, he took a deep breath and looked directly at Keith’s eyes. “He brought his mom Keith. His mom!”, he said gesticulating wild. “And that didn’t happened when we were 15, it was last year!”.

 

“Are you serious?”, he burst out of laughing.

 

“I am dead serious”. Lance covered his face with his palms, as he was ashamed. “We were both adults, Keith, we were adults and he brought his mom to a date at a fancy restaurant. He didn’t even talk, his mom answered for him like he was a 10 years old at the doctor”.

 

“That… is so wrong”.

 

“Right? I was seriously looking for a hidden camera for the first 15 minutes. At some point they started arguing between themselves about the laundry or something and I just wanted to throw myself out of the window.”

 

“Where do you find that people?”

 

“I don’t know man… it was really weird.”

 

Keith’s phone buzzed and the conversation about weird dates was brought to an end.

 

**Wen, 10:03 [From: Pidge]**

time?

 

**[To: Pidge]**

around 1pm should be fine

are you free?

 

**[From: Pidge]**

yeah, 1pm is perfect

i'll pass by your office to get you

 

**[To: Pidge]**

alright

see you then

 

**[From: Pidge]**

is he coming?

 

**[To: Pidge]**

i didn’t ask him yet

 

 

“Erm… Lance?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I’m going out for lunch with my friend Pidge today. She works here on campus”.

 

“Have fun then. And make sure she doesn’t bring her mom”.

 

“First of all: I already know her mom and she’s awesome, I wouldn’t mind having lunch with both of them. And second of all: I’m asking if you want to join us, you’re not busy after 12:30 pm on Wednesdays if I remember correctly. We’ll probably get Italian”.

 

“Oh”, Lance blinked in surprise. “Yeah, I got nothing today after the 10:30 seminar.”

 

“So, you coming?”. _Please, say yes_.

 

“Yes, if it’s fine with her for me to join, I’ll go. It’ll have to be a place where I can pay with my card, because… well, I’m really bad at cash. I usually pay everything with my card or PayPal so I always forget to go to the ATM to get some actual money”, he said rubbing the hair at the back of his head.

 

“Don’t worry about that, it’s on me today. Maybe I’ll even invite you a non-disgusting pizza”.

 

Lance giggled at that. “That would be awesome. What’s the occasion may I ask?”

 

“It’s my birthday actually.”

 

“Today it’s your birthday? And you said nothing?”

 

“I’m saying it now”.

 

“Yeah, but you didn’t warn me! I would had brought something, a cake, some candles… I don’t know…”

 

“It’s ok, really. You don’t have to bring anything. I don’t usually celebrate anyways”.

 

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no”.

 

“That’s a lot of ‘no’”

 

“Of course! I can’t let you pass your birthday without blowing the candles and making a wish. My mom didn’t raise me like that”. Lance stood up and started to pack his things. “I’m gonna get going now, I have some facts to teach and some candles to buy. If we don’t have cake I’ll stick them on the pizza.”.

 

“Alright, do whatever you want. Just be here by one.”

 

“I will. I’ll never miss that pizza. Which numbers do I need to get?”

 

“A two and an eight”.

 

“Ha! You’re older than me! Just by a year tho”.

 

“It isn’t a competition”.

 

“Everything is a competition if you’re competitive enough”.

 

“Or annoying enough”, mumbled Keith.

 

Lance held his gaze for a moment. “You’re no fun, Kogane”.

 

“I’m sorry. Next time I’ll try to leave you handcuffed to a streetlamp, since that’s apparently the way you have fun”.

 

“Fair point”. He was ready to leave and grabbed the doorknob, but he wasn’t turning it yet. “Happy birthday by the way”.

 

“Thanks”. Lance winked and left through the door. Keith suddenly felt nervous about the lunch break.

 

…

 

Pidge had arrived early and was chatting with Keith in his office. She had moved some of Lance’s papers invading Keith’s desk and was sitting on it. They heard the door opening and turned to it.

 

“Hi, Lance.”, greeted Keith.

 

“Hello McClain.”

 

“Professor Holt!”, said a surprised Lance.

 

“You know each other?”

 

“We happened to meet in a couple of campus events”, said Pidge.

 

“Yeah”, confirmed Lance, “ she and Hunk knew each other somehow so we went together. But, what did you called her before? It wasn’t Holt of Katie…”.

 

“Pidge”, said Keith. “It was her nickname in school so I’m not really used to call her Katie”.

 

“You know each other from school?”

 

“Yes, we were in the same class for some years. Then we got separated for high school, but we managed to keep in contact all these years. I was really glad to find out I got a job on the same University where she was working”.

 

“Awwwww Keith, I knew you loved me”, teased her.

 

“Shut up! I hope you remember it, because I’m not saying something like that ever again”.

 

“Oh, I’ll remember. I even have a witness here”, said Pidge pointing at Lance.

 

“Yeah, and that witness is starving, so if you don’t mind…”.

 

“For once in my life, and if you tell anybody I said that I will personally kill you: I have to agree with Lance. Let’s go”.

 

“Hey! That was rude, _Pidge_.”

 

“It’s still Professor Holt to you, McClain. You’ll have to earn it”.

 

“Alright! Stop it already. Let me grab my things and we’ll get going”, interrupted Keith.

 

The other two obeyed with no hesitation. The hunger was more powerful that any bickering motive.

 

Pidge exited first and Keith was waiting for Lance at the door. He felt a warm hand placed on the crook of his neck, just where his neck and his right shoulder meet and looked back to discover Lance’s smile.

 

“C’mon, let’s get that pizza you promised me”, he said as he squeezed the hand on Keith’s shoulder.

 

Keith heart did a flip and he hoped his acting abilities were improving, or otherwise he’d be damned. “Yeah, let’s go”. And with that, they left.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance totally made Keith blow the candles on that pizza.
> 
> Keith totally wished something about certain professor.
> 
>  
> 
> FYI: the pizza incident is totally true


	4. Day 50

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> me? writing a whole chapter about a couch?
> 
> it's more likely than you think

Keith had had an early meeting that Monday to organize some extra lessons he had to teach for Introduction to Epidemiological Studies to substitute another professor’s sick leave. It started at 7.30 am and lasted for almost an hour. _It was torture_. He hated early meetings so much.

 

He hated mornings, but at least he usually had some time to adjust himself to being awake before he actually had to do something that requires paying attention and human interaction altogether. That wasn’t the case today. Early meetings always demanded his full attention at an hour that should be illegal to stay awake, and he loathed it.

 

To make matters worse, Lance was late today. It was almost 9 in the morning and he hadn’t shown signs of life. Keith was actively stopping himself from getting worried. It was only and one hour difference from his usual, but still… _I just really need my coffee today. He better be here soon_.

 

He stood up from his sit as he finished preparing his class for the day and rounded the desks to stand by the window, next to Lance’s chair. He rested his back against the bookshelf and distracted himself looking through the window, watching the people come and go. Their office was at the second floor at the left wing of the building, but thanks to the architecture, they had a pretty decent view of the school building’s entrance.

 

He, of course, wasn’t unconsciously looking for a certain tall brown-haired man with a beautiful smile among the people walking around his field of vision. Not at all.

 

Keith spent like that about ten minutes, getting actually entertained with the scene of people entering and leaving; he even recognized some students from his lectures and some professors here and there. He was lost in his thoughts when he heard a strong noise coming from outside the office. It sounded like something heavy had fallen on the floor and he rushed towards the door.

 

He opened it and what he saw a person’s back, bending down over some piece of furniture.

 

“Lance?”. He asked despite he had perfectly identified him without seeing his face. _Now I can recognize him by his ass. Fucking great._

 

“Keith!”. Lance turned his head. “Come here! Help me”.

 

“Help you what exactly?”

 

“Getting this couch through the door”.

 

“Getting this what, where?”.

 

The other man turned fully to face Keith and explained. “I dragged this surprisingly heavy motherfucking couch from the other side of the campus, so you better help me getting it in there”, he demanded, pointing at the interior of the office.

 

“Where did you get that?”, he asked, wondering around said item. It was a two places brownish couch, clearly used but in a pretty decent state. “Please, tell me you didn’t found it in the garbage”.

 

“Well, technically not”.

 

“What does that even mean?”, he said, cocking a brow.

 

“I intercepted some people carrying it with the intention of throwing it away, but it technically never was _in_ the garbage”.

 

“You sure?”. Keith liked the idea of having something besides his chair to rest for a while – _maybe nap_ \- at his workplace, since he’s starting to suspect that with the development of the semester he’d have to spend more and more time there, but he didn’t definitely like the idea of having bugs or even bigger living things running over him.

 

“Pinky promise?”. He looked up to see Lance smiling at him with his left hand in a fist, little finger extended and pointed at him.

 

 _This is stupid. We are two adults in a college building corridor_. Keith rolled his eyes but intertwined his finger with Lance’s anyway, leaving all the regret and the embarrassing behind as he saw the other man’s smile widen.

 

They spent a couple of seconds longer than necessary like that, without breaking eye contact. Keith noticed his heartbeat fasten as he felt the warm of Lance’s hand irradiating to his own, missing it the moment the other one broke contact.

 

Keith cleared his voice and resumed, “How are you planning to get this through _that_ door? I don’t think it’s gonna fit”.

 

“Ha! That’s what she said”.

 

Keith stared at him with a look of disapproval and crossed arms. “Seriously?”

 

“Sorry”, Lance tried it to sound like a non-fake apology. “You just can’s said that and expect me to control myself”.

 

“Alright. Then I’ll just go help somebody who can control them selves”, said Keith approaching the frame door. He was obviously not offended, but how can he let go the opportunity to tease Lance a bit.

 

“No, please!”. Lance grabbed his forearm to stop him from leaving, and he of course, succeeded. “C’mon, it wasn’t that bad… please don’t go”, he pouted, still holding on Keith’s limb. He started closing the space between them, and with a low voice and a smirk, he teased back. “I’ll behave if that’s what you want”.

 

Keith was debating his inner self about what he wished more at that moment: to be swallowed by the earth and never come back to the surface to avoid this torture forever, or to grab Lance by the shoulders, pin him to the wall and tell him all the ways he will make sure he would behave. He discarded both options shaking his head and gulped slowly. Keith was the one with serious problems of auto control now. Gay problems, to be more specific _._

 

“Just… just let’s get this fucking thing done”.

 

They silently walked around the couch and the frame door to evaluate the situation and decide de best way to proceed.

 

“I think I know the main problem here”, started Keith. “It seems like if we put the couch on one of the sides, we can pass the back first to the right side and then get the rest of it through. The thing is… the door. It opens from left to right, it will be in the middle, and the left wall isn’t far enough”.

 

Lance nodded in agreement and taped on the door. “We have to take it down from the hinges”.

 

“Yeah, it doesn’t look like it’s too heavy”. Keith placed his hands on both sides of the door and tested it. It had a bit of decoration on both sides, just some squares carved on the wood, but they were deep enough to make it not as slippery as it would be if it was an even one. He took his jacket off, discarded it on his chair to avoid any inconvenience with the sleeves and went back on his task. Lance didn’t miss a single second of it. “I’ll lift it and you’ll move it to get it detached”.

 

“Ok”. Lance stood next to the junction of both elements and waited for Keith’s orders. “Ready”.

 

“Here we go. Mmphh”. Keith elevated the door a couple of inches and put his right foot under it to use it as support.

 

“Just a little more, it’s almost done”.

 

With a little extra effort, the door had reached enough height and Lance moved it slightly to the right. “Done! You can put it down”.

 

Keith did as told. “Let me put it next to the shelf”.

 

“No, wait, I’ll help you”, Lance offered.

 

“It’s ok, it’s not that heavy”. He extended his arms to embrace the door from both sides, and with his muscles tensed, transported it to the side of the office. Lance didn’t miss a single second of it. Again. “Now, the couch”, commanded Keith.

 

“Yessir”.

 

Both of them moved to continue their mission.

 

“You wait by the frame to stop it when I put it on its side, just in case.” Keith was still in charge. He rested his hands on his hips and doubted for a moment. “Do you think we’ll damage it if we drag it through the floor?”

 

“I literally found it on its way to the garbage, I don’t think it’ll matter that much. Unless you want to lift it to keep showing off those arms of yours…”, Lance tempted  with a mischievous look.

 

That made Keith choke on his own saliva. “I… what?”. Lance laughed like that was the exact reaction he was waiting for.

 

“C’mon, you already made pretty clear you work out. Now let’s get this finished. Put it up”.

 

“Right”. He did as planned and let Lance guide him on what way he had to push.

 

“Perfect! Just a bit to the right. No no, that’s too much, turn to the left. Not that left, the other left!”

 

“Lance, I swear to god, give me the right orders and give up with this nonsense. Are you even pulling or you are just letting me do the job?”.

 

“I’ _am_ pulling! You just have laterality problems!”

 

“I have… wh?”, he pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “Just be grateful this couch is the only thing stopping me from murder you right now and help me get the last corner in”. He heard Lance’s bright laugh from inside and Keith knocked his head on the part of the couch that was in front of him in resignation until he felt the furniture being pulled. He looked up and saw the last part of the left corner being almost done and pushed a little further to get it through.

 

“Yeeeees!”, cheered Lance, “at fucking last!”

 

Keith took advantage of the fact that Lance still couldn’t see his face, and smiled to himself.

 

…

 

After the worst part was done, they put the couch in the only place available inside the office, just in the space between the door and the tiny decorative table at the right corner. It fitted fine just by a couple of inches.

 

The operation ‘hanging the door back’ wasn’t as easy as putting it down, but after some bickering and misleading instructions, they eventually left their door where it belonged and now were having a well deserved rest on the _damn_ couch. Lance was sitting next to the bookshelf and Keith on the other side, drinking avidly his coffee.

 

“How did you get it to the second floor anyways?”

 

“It wasn’t that hard actually. I new I couldn’t just enter through the main door with it because I’m not really sure I’m allowed to bring things here…”.

 

“You don’t know? Are you tell me that what we just did might not be allowed?”

 

“Well, it is if you don’t ask”, he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “The thing is, the janitor’s boss of this building, Rolo, owed me a couple of favors, so I convinced him to help me getting it on the service elevator. The rest was easy peasy.”

 

“Yeah, except for the part that you were yelling at me contradictory orders and getting nothing useful done”.

 

“Hey!”. Lance slipped a leg under one of Keith’s and kicked him softly. “You wound me, Kogane”, he pouted, looking away from Keith’s scrutiny. However, neither of them moved their legs.

 

“By the way”, began Lance again, “what did you think of Verónica?”.

 

Last weekend Lance’s sister was visiting him for fall break. She lived in a town a couple of driving hours away, so both siblings traveled frequently to stay at each other’s houses. Saturday evening, Keith was jogging around town when he heard his name called by a familiar voice. He approached them, Lance introduced him to his sister Verónica and they chatted for a bit before letting him continue his exercising.

 

“We didn’t talk that much, but she seems nice”.

 

“Yeah, she is”. Lance looked at him silently and continued, “you should put your hair up more often by the way.”

 

“Ye… yeah? You think?” _Note to future self._

“Mmhh”, he nodded and changed subjects. “It was too bad you didn’t want to go get dinner with us, we found an awesome place. Good and cheap food. The staff was super nice too, Verónica even got a phone number from one of the waitress”, he whispered as if Verónica was actually capable of hear him. He knew she’d punish him for gossiping about her.

 

Keith chuckled at that, “Are you serious? Did she beat you at flirting?”

 

“She didn’t beat me… Not everything is a competition, Keith”.

 

“As a not-that-wise man told me not so long ago…”, he leaned forward towards Lance and said with a grin on his mouth, “everything is a competition if you’re competitive enough”.

 

Lance didn’t become intimidated and held Keith gaze in an unspoken, well, competition.

 

They stared at each other’s eyes for what felt like hours. Lance’s eyes were impossible blue and Keith was giving his best to not let his urge to look at the other man’s lips. All his focus broke when Lance winked at him. That was it, it was Keith’s weakness and Lance knew it. Both of them knew it at this point.

 

Keith felt his face getting so blushed he quickly stood up and walked to his chair. “Gotta go to class”, he excused himself, picking up his things.

 

He heard Lance laughing and claiming he was the winner but he didn’t dare look his way. Keith  had to do something about this stupid crush, it was killing him. He was waiting for it to eventually vanish, as usually happened to him with most people. _But what if it doesn’t? What if he isn’t like ‘most people’?_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoilers alert: he is not


	5. Day 79

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance receive bad news and Keith is there for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It got a little angsty, but I hope all the fluff compensates ^^

 

Keith sits on his chair and nervously bounces his right leg. It’s been almost a week and a half since he last saw Lance, and he didn’t know why.

 

The previous week, he had arrived to the office early on the Monday, as usual, and waited for Lance to bring him his coffee (and brighten up his day). He waited; waited for one, two, three, four hours. Lance had never been that late to work, not even the day of the couch situation, and he started getting worried for real.

 

He tried to convince himself that there was surely a good reason behind his delay, maybe some meeting or unexpected errand. However, when he came back from his noon class and Lance was still nowhere to be found, he couldn’t stand it anymore and went to talk to their superior, the head of the department.

 

Keith left her office half relieved half worried. She had told him that Lance had called during the weekend saying that he had a family emergency and had to miss work for a week or so because he had to travel to Cuba to stay with them. In conclusion, Lance was ok but something on his personal life wasn’t, and it had to be something grave when it required him to stay there for that long.

 

Now it was 10.31 on the next Tuesday, the day Lance was supposed to come back to work, and Keith couldn’t stop bouncing his leg and looking at the little clock on the corner of his computer screen. He even didn’t know what he was supposed to say to him when he came back, but that didn’t matter, he just wanted to see Lance’s face again and everything would be fine.

 

After fifty-nine painful minutes, Keith heard the door getting opened, and he had never turned his head that fast in his life. He watched as Lance entered the room staring at the ground and stopping midway. Then, he looked up at Keith with a small smile that looked a little forced to him and spoke before heading to his sit.

 

“Hi”.

 

Keith smiled back. “Hi”.

 

…

 

They sat in silence and Keith ~~pretended to~~ worked on the test he had to get done before next week. Lance had turned on his computer as well and was clicking with his mouse on some things unknown to Keith. He was _dying_ to ask Lance about what had happened, but he wasn’t sure if Lance was in the mood to do that, or if he even wanted to share that with him, his coworker. Nonetheless, he didn’t miss a single movement or gesture Lance had made since he had arrived.

 

He discretely peeked a glance when he heard a zip being opened and saw him wandering into the interior of his backpack. After a moment of fruitless searching, Lance covered his face with his hand and Keith could heard soft sobs.

 

“Lance?”, Keith couldn’t hold it anymore. “Is everything ok?”

 

There was no response, and the sobs got louder instead.

 

Keith stood up and walked towards Lance. He might not know what had happened, but the least he could do was comfort him.

 

He placed himself next to him, and put a hand over his shoulder, making tender circles with his thumb. “Shhh, it’s ok”. Lance didn’t waste a second and turned to him, embracing Keith around his waist, face buried in his stomach.

 

Keith was surprised by the sudden movement and, with a deep breath and trying not to be too overwhelmed about the warmness around his body, kept caressing Lance’s shoulder. His other hand moved to the back of Lance’s head and he run his fingers through his hair.

 

He didn’t know how many minutes had passed by, but he eventually felt Lance calming under his touch. He was still sniffing, but his respiration was going back to normal.

 

“I’m sorry”, he heard Lance mumbling against his belly. “I forgot your coffee”.

 

Keith interrupted all his movements for a second, and then continued. “Well, that’s… unfortunate. I’m not invalidating the bet tho, if I let you lose I would still take the brunt of it.”

 

He felt Lance letting out a chuckle and breathed out in relief. Lance stood up in front of him, loosening the hug but keeping his hands around Keith’s waist.

 

Keith’s poor heart was beating fast and hard. He didn’t know how many times he had day-dreamed about having the other man so close, how many different ways he had imagined his hands touching his body. It was not the expected context nor the most appropriate moment, but his legs shook at the sight of those blue eyes looking directly at him, scrutinizing him.

 

He felt enough courage to move his hand as well, and placed it where it previously was, at the back of Lance’s hair.

 

“Look Lance”, he started after clearing his voice, “I know you weren’t crying about the coffee. I couldn’t care less about the coffee right now. I just… I just want you to know that if you want to talk… well, maybe you don’t want to… I’m not forcing you or anything…”. _Keith, just form one coherent sentence, for fuck’s sake_. “If you want to talk about anything, I’m here, ok?”.

 

Lance’s expression saddened again and he bitted his lower lip as if he was stopping himself from crying again. He leaned in and hugged Keith again, this time firm and tight. Keith did de same and reciprocated putting his arms around Lance’s shoulders, bringing him even closer. It felt so intimate that Keith could perfectly notice the little trembles Lance made every time he breathed in and out.

 

“My dad died”, Lance finally said.

 

Keith didn’t know what he was expecting to hear, but after those exact words, a tear escaped down his face and buried Lance even more in his own chest.

 

“I am really sorry”, was the only thing he was capable of saying with a shaky voice. _I really am_.

 

They hugged in silence until Lance started to feel better and he looked up to meet Keith’s eyes again. “Thank you”.

 

“It’s nothing. I’m glad you told me”. His arms moved away from Lance’s shoulders, letting him free from his grip while Lance separated his own as well.

 

“I wanted to tell you. I knew I couldn’t do it without breaking down so… the sooner the better I guess”.

 

“Mmh”, Keith nodded and put on the warmest of his smiles, “agree”.

 

“Oh man”, he protested covering his face, “why is crying so exhausting? I feel really drained right now”.

 

“Do you have to go to class today?”

 

“No, not today. Allura’s covering until tomorrow”.

 

“Why don’t you go home? You look like you could use some rest.”

 

“I don’t feel like going there right now… it feels kinda lonely…”

 

“Alright. Why don’t you take a nap then, you know, on the couch?”. Keith was internally thankful for been able to keep Lance’s company for a little longer.

 

“Right here?”

 

“Yeah, why not? I won’t tell anyone”. And, for the first time since they had met, Keith winked at Lance. That earned him a sincere smile from the other man, and he felt like he had just made the best decision of his life.

 

“You’re right. Why the hell not”.

 

…

 

Some hours later, Keith was outside their office, keys in hand and ready to grab his things and go home for the day. He had left a sleeping Lance on the couch before heading to accomplish his teacher duties, leaving him a note on his desk.

 

_I left for class. I’ll lock the door_

_from outside just in case someone_

_come here while you’re sleeping._

_I didn’t want to wake you._

_If you don’t have your key, just_

_give me a call and I’ll come back._

_XXX-527-XXXX               Keith :)_

 

Keith had thought from almost day one about what excuse he could make up to ask Lance for his phone number, but the ideal opportunity never came and he was afraid of being too obvious doing it. Until now. Giving Lance his number in this situation will exculpate himself from any suspicious motivation, and if the other one wanted to exchange his own, it was up to him. _Perfect._

 

He finally opened the door and found an empty room, all lights off and nobody inside. _Right, what did I expect?_ He switched on the lamp on his desk and found a handwritten note, different from the one he had written.

 

_I did have the key! Thanks_

_for locking, really thoughtful_

_of you. I went out to grab_

_something to eat._

_Check your phone!_

_Lance_ _♥_

 

He read and re-read the note over and over again, his smile growing with each time he looked at the signature with a little heart next to the name. _How is it possible to be that cute?_ His phone had been neglected for the last hours and, in effect, when he unlocked the screen there were some unread notifications.

 

 

**Tue, 18:43 [From: Unknown number]**

i'm at marmora’s,  want anything?

here's the menu

[ _Unknown number sent a picture_ ]

 

**Tue, 19:12 [From: Unknown number]**

ok, i guess you’re still in class

i'll pick something for you

 

**Tue, 19:19 [From: Unknown number]**

[ _Unknown number sent a picture_ ]

i got bored waiting for the food

 

Keith opened the picture and, if he wasn’t already blushing, he surely was now. It was a selfie. Well, almost a selfie, Lance called them _halfies_. Apparently that was a thing.

 

It showed the top half of Lance’s face with a blurred background. Keith couldn’t see his mouth, but his eyes indicated that he was smiling, and his heart melted for the millionth time that day. He shoved away the need of making that picture his new background and texted back.

**Tue, 19:22 [To: Lance]**

Hi!

I just saw your texts

 

**[From: Lance]**

finally! :D

i'm heading there rn with the food

you at the office?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yeah

Thank god, I’m starving

 

**[From: Lance]**

i hope so, i think i bought too much

see ya in five

 

…

 

Lance had indeed bought too much food. He started unpacking the things from the bag and they both realized soon that there were no room above the desks to put all that stuff.

 

“It seems that you finally have to put in order all those papers”, mocked Keith.

 

“Shut up. I’m pretty sure I can keep avoiding it a little longer. Give me a sec”.

 

Keith knew exactly what Lance was about to do. “You can’t keep putting pile over pile. They’ll eventually fall down”.

 

“I can, and until that day, I’ll keep doing it”, he replied, doing exactly that.

 

Lance had somehow made enough space on the surface of his desk and told Keith to bring the chair to his side of the table so they could eat together.

 

“I didn’t know what to get you so I picked a bunch of things we can share”.

 

There were fries with several number of sauces, a box with mini-burgers, each one with different ingredients, something wrapped inside a tortilla that Keith did not identify but was pretty sure there was avocado in it, and a medium sized peperoni pizza.

 

Lance moved his chair next to the window to make room for the other chair and they sat side by side.

 

Keith grabbed a slice of pizza and took a bite. He was really famished. “Oh god”, he moaned, leaning back his head. “This is so unhealthy. I love it”.

 

A little laugh escaped from Lance’s mouth between the food he was chewing and managed to form some words. “Of course, the last thing I needed today was a salad”.

 

“I completely agree”.

 

They ate in reasonable silence until they were not hungry anymore, focused on the food but exchanging quick glances and smiles. Lance was now reclined on his chair as a sing of being completely full while Keith wiped clean one of the sauce containers with the last fry.

 

He moved his eyes to look at Lance, but something else caught his eyes. More specifically, someone else.

 

“Look”, he said, almost whispering and pointing out of the window.

 

“Mmh? What?”. Lance turned around and searched for whatever Keith was motioning at. They moved the chairs as close as they could and focused their attention on what was occurring outside.

 

“Is that…?”

 

“Proffesor Sendak, yeah. What kind of hour is this to have an appointment with a studeeEENTOMYGOD!”.

 

“I fucking knew it!”

 

“They are kissing Keith! Ohmygodohmygodohmyg…”. Lance’s rambling was cut when they saw the two persons outside pausing their smooching activities and looking around like they had heard something.

 

“Duck!”, hissed Keith, pushing Lance’s head as he bended down too.

 

“You think they heard us?”, whispered Lance.

 

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure this is the only room with lights on at this part of the building”. Keith didn’t intend to get so close to Lance’s face but, well, there they were, both men bended down to avoid being caught spying on other coworker.

 

“Oh gosh, I can’t believe it”.

 

“Well, I _surely_ can. The girl is taking one of my lectures and she always sits at the first row, so I’m pretty sure that’s her. Since the beginning of the semester I’ve seen her turning down at least five or six people, of any gender, that asked her out… and that only during my classes! So ok, she had the right to do whatever she wants, but I thought that it was weird, because I had clearly heard from one of his best friends that she was single. Whatever, the other day I went to the bathroom and when I was coming back here I saw her and Sendak going out of that small room at the end of the corridor, I don’t even know what’s in there. They were a bit far from me, but I would had sworn they were holding hands and…”.

 

Keith stopped talking when he felt Lance’s hand squeezing his right shoulder. “Keith”, Lance said between giggles. “Oh my god, Keith”.

 

“What?”

 

“You are such a _huge_ gossip. Are you for real? This is the best day of my life”.

 

“What?! I’m not! They were in public!”. Keith’s face was burning and he sat up straight again on the chair, not caring about being spotted anymore. Lance did the same and resumed laughing.

 

“Yeah, you fucking are. You should see your face when you watched them kissing… it was like Christmas”.

 

“Shut up. Just… shut up”. He tried to be offended but he quickly gave up and joined Lance’s infectious laughter, fading out progressively to giggles and then to big smiles on both their faces.

 

“Thank you”, said Lance, his mouth still beaming.

 

“What for?”

 

“For everything. Today… I really needed it”.

 

“Oh”.

 

“The company, the laughing… you made me forgot about, you know, my family situation for a while”.

 

“Of course, anytime you need it. I… I actually can relate to what happened to you, so… I can imagine how you feel”.

 

“You do? I’m sorry then, for whatever happened to your…”.

 

“My dad too. He died when I was seven and my mom never showed up so… it’s kind of an old story but… yeah. That summarizes it pretty much”.

 

“Oh god, I can’t imagine… that is so awful…”. Lance’s eyes were getting wet again and that was the last thing Keith wanted right now.

 

“It’s ok”, he reassured, placing his hand on Lance’s forearm, “it’s ok now. I went to live with Shiro’s parents not long after that and they took care of me. They’re my family now”, he smiled proudly.

 

“Shiro? The cookie guy?”

 

“Yeah, the cookie guy”, he chuckled. “Look Lance, I now you’re hurt right now and you will be for a long time but… it eventually gets better. I will never forget my dad or what I had to live through when that happened to him, and you won’t either… but all you need is time to heal, and I’m sure you’re family and friends will be there to support you and… me too, I’ll be here, ok?”

 

Before Keith could react, he was pulled in another hug. He had lost count at that point.

 

“Thank you”.

 

“Stop saying thank you, please. You would do the same”.

 

“ Still. You helped a lot”.

 

“I’m glad. But don’t forget the coffee tomorrow please, I’m too caffeine deprived to function like a human being, or at least as close as I’m capable of”.

 

Lance broke the hug and started tiding up the rests of the dinner spread over the table. “Of course. What would you do without me?”

 

 _I really don’t know_.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the slow building will burn eventually B)


	6. Day 117

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance leaves for Christmas break, they do some chores and have a (bonding) moment
> 
> Also, since they exchanged numbers, some texting happened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love reading and writting chat conversations, I hope you like it ♥

**Thu, 11:17 [From: Lance]**

[Lance _sent a picture_ ]

look at the size of that turkey

 

…

 

**Thu, 13:02 [From: Lance]**

[Lance _sent a picture_ ]

please save this photo

shes asking me to delete it

shes coming

omg

make copies please

avenge me

 

**[To: Lance]**

Lol

You ok?

Tell Veronica I said hi

 

**…**

**Thu, 13:11 [To: Lance]**

Lance?

Do I need to call 911?

 

…

 

**Thu, 13:20 [From: Lance]**

hi Keith

this is Verónica

 

**[To: Lance]**

Hello

How are you?

 

**[From: Lance]**

don’t you ‘how are you’ me

did you save the picture

 

**[To: Lance]**

Mmm… no?

 

**[From: Lance]**

you totally did you bastard

you’re deleting it rn

 

**[To: Lance]**

It isn’t that bad

Is he ok?

 

**[From: Lance]**

i locked him in the bathroom

yes, it is bad

i'll free him when you delete the photo

 

**[To: Lance]**

Ok

Deleted

 

**[From: Lance]**

yeah sure

i need proof

screencaps

 

**[To: Lance]**

[You _sent a picture_ ]

[You _sent a picture_ ]

[You _sent a picture_ ]

 

**[From: Lance]**

you hadn’t deleted it you liar

 

**[To: Lance]**

Sorry

I did now

 

**[From: Lance]**

omg

keith

thank you so much

i thought i was going to die there

 

**[To: Lance]**

So dramatic

U’re welcome btw

So, how’s everything going?

Apart from your sister trying to kill you

 

**[From: Lance]**

it's going fine

i mean

it’s not the same as spending it with our whole family

but i'm having fun with her

we’re cooking like a thousand people were invited tho

if you hadn’t had plans already you should have come

theres plenty of food

 

…

 

**Thu, 14:01 [To: Lance]**

Sorry, Adam just arrived and we were talking

 

**[From: Lance]**

adam?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Shiro’s bf

Uhg

They’re being all loveydovey already

Please kill me

 

**[From: Lance]**

lol

do you need assistance?

 

**[To: Lance]**

It’s fine

They are always like this

Next time I’ll consider your offer tho

 

**[From: Lance]**

♥♥♥♥♥

happy thanksgiving

 

**[To: Lance]**

Happy thanksgiving

Have a great holiday :)

 

…

 

**Wen, 19:47 [From: Lance]**

your computer is on

you coming back here today?

 

**[To: Lance]**

No, already at home

Can you turn it off for me please?

 

**[From: Lance]**

done

 

**[To: Lance]**

Thanks

 

**[From: Lance]**

no problem

see u tomorrow :)

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yeah

See you

 

…

 

**Sat, 22:31 [From: Lance]**

why did you hide it from me?

 

**[To: Lance]**

???

 

**[From: Lance]**

the fact that shiro was that nice

also smoking hot

oh my

 

**[To: Lance]**

Really?

I didn’t see the point

He’s practically married, in case you don’t remember

 

**[From: Lance]**

i know

i wouldn’t stand a chance even if he was single but

when i found you both today at the store

i wasn’t prepared

 

**[To: Lance]**

He’s not that hot…

 

**[From: Lance]**

awwwww

are you jealous, Kogane?

you're pretty fine too ;)

 

…

**Sat, 22:47 [From: Lance]**

did i broke you?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Sorry

Something came up

 

**[From: Lance]**

ok…

anyway

you said that shiro was going home today right?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yeah

He left about two hours ago

What’s with the sudden interest in him?

 

**[From: Lance]**

just fyi

i was asking because i wanted to know if you were free tomorrow

you dumbass

 

**[To: Lance]**

Oh

I have nothing planned

I was going to have brunch at that new place near the theatre with Pidge, but she cancelled

Something to do with his brother

So, yeah

I’m free

 

**[From: Lance]**

brunch sounds amazing

you still want to go?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Of course

If some day in the future you witness me saying no to brunch, I’m giving you permission to punch me in the face

 

**[From: Lance]**

i'll save this screenshot for future blackmail

 

**[To: Lance]**

I’ll never say no to that so I don’t even care

12.00 is alright?

 

**[From: Lance]**

perfect

want me to pick you up?

 

**[To: Lance]**

You don’t have to bother

 

**[From: Lance]**

it’s not a bother

besides

i washed my car today and i have to show it off while it’s still clean

it only happens twice a year

 

**[To: Lance]**

Knowing how your desk looks like, I can imagine it

 

**[From: Lance]**

hey!!!

you sure it’s a good idea to annoy your ride for tomorrow?

 

**[To: Lance]**

:)

[You _sent a location_ ]

Don’t be late

 

**[From: Lance]**

i wont :D

 

…

 

**Sat, 23:18 [To: Pidge]**

OMG

PIDGE

PICK UP

I HAVE A SITUATION

PIIIIIIDGE

 

…

 

**Sun, 17:53 [To: Lance]**

How was the nap?

 

**…**

**Sun, 19:06 [From: Lance]**

epic

just woke up

i'm pretty sure i was clinically dead for a couple of hours

 

**[To: Lance]**

Can relate

We shouldn’t had eaten that much

 

**Sun, 19:06 [From: Lance]**

i’m gonna be so screwed tonight

i will need to quintuplicate my dose of coffee tomorrow

but regret nothing ^^

 

**[To: Lance]**

Regret nothing :)

 

**[From: Lance]**

i had a great time today

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yeah, me too

 

**[From: Lance]**

see you tomorrow?

 

**[To: Lance]**

At the same painful hour, yeah

Goodnight

 

**[From: Lance]**

night!

 

…

 

**Sun, 20:44 [From: Pidge]**

so, how was the date?

 

**[To: Pidge]**

I told you

It wasn’t a date

 

**[From: Pidge]**

are you sure

can you tell me that you’re 100% sure it wasn’t a date?

 

**[To: Pidge]**

I DON’T KNOW

 

**[From: Pidge]**

ok ok

calm down

was it good?

 

**[To: Pidge]**

It was amazing Pidge

That’s the problem

 

**[From: Pidge]**

alright

we already had this conversation a thousand times

if you’re so serious about him you’ll have to tell him eventually

you need a resolution, whether it’s a yes or a no

i'm betting on a yes tbh

but you’ll never know until you ask

 

**[To: Pidge]**

I know I know

God, I’m such a coward

I’ll ask him

I’m just… not ready yet

 

**[From: Pidge]**

why don’t you do it after the break?

You have two weeks lance free

maybe you can clear your mind in the holidays

and decide what you want to do

 

**[To: Pidge]**

That’s actually a good idea

Better than mine at least

Which is nonexistent

I’ll think about it

 

**[From: Pidge]**

good

 

**[To: Pidge]**

Thanks

For the advice

 

**[From: Pidge]**

anytime

you still owe me that brunch tho

…

 

It was the last day at work before the Christmas break. Lance was going to visit his family at Cuba and Keith was staying mostly in town except for Christmas festivities.  Shiro was going on a trip for New Year’s, so it will be only him and his cats, not that he cared that much.

 

The day before the beginning of the break, both of them had finished correcting all the exams and assignments and the grades were ready to upload. They still had to go to work that day, but there were no much to do so they decided to do something Keith had suggested some time ago, but Lance always had found an excuse to postpone it: organize the bookshelf.

 

Keith and Lance were sitting on the small free portion of Lance’s desk, staring at the big piece of furniture in front of them.

 

“So, let me get this clear”, started Keith, “you worked here for almost two years now”.

 

“Yep”.

 

“None of the things at that shelf is yours”.

 

“That’s correct”.

 

“And all of your things are just invading your and _my_ desk”.

 

“You know it”.

 

“So, why am I the only one seeing the problem here?”

 

“I can see it too, but I choose to ignore it”, grinned Lance.

 

“Laaaaaance… C’mon. There won’t be a better day. We have nothing to do right now”.

 

“Alriiiight. But you have to ask nicely”, he purred, nudging Keith softly.

 

Keith turned at him and, oh boy, that eyes were way too close. He looked away before giving Lance the chance to wink at him. Keith new too well at that point.

 

“I am asking nicely”, resumed Keith trying to keep his sanity. There was no response for Lance, so he took a deep breath and mumbled. “I’ll buy you lunch”.

 

“What? I didn’t hear you”.

 

He turned again to Lance and repeated, his cheeks undoubtedly flushed. “I’ll take you to have lunch. Now let’s get it done already”.

 

“You know food is my weakness”, said Lance, rolling up his sleeves.

 

 _And you are mine_ , swallowed Keith.

 

…

 

They spent the next hour removing all the things at the bookshelf and putting them in different piles. The bigger one was the ‘bunch of papers from the 80’s to throw away’ pile.

 

“How many years do we have to conserve the documents?”, wondered Keith.

 

“I think it’s around five for exams and most works, but I’d have to check it”.

 

“Anyway, most of these things are from more than 20 years ago, we are good throwing them away, aren’t we?”

 

“Of course”. Lance stated, as he placed another folder over that pile.

 

They went on with their work for another hour or so, until the shelfs were almost empty. Besides all the old documents, they found some interesting books to keep for themselves, and a couple of antique weird lab instruments that could work as decoration.

 

“C’mon, there is only the top row left. You are the one that dragged me, we can’t give up now”.

 

“I don’t want to give up. I just don’t want you to fall down and have a concussion. Your brain is bad enough at it is”.

 

“Ha, ha, very funny, Kogane. Come on, if we go ask for a ladder, we won’t get this thing finished today and you know it”.

 

Keith groaned as an indication of his disconformity, but moved towards Lance anyway. The other man climbed up on his own chair next to the bookshelf, trying to keep his balance while grabbing the things that were still on the top row and handling them to Keith.

 

“You’re gonna fall”.

 

“No, I am not. And if I fall, you’re there to take care of me”. Lance looked down at Keith with a shit eating smile that immediately faded when one of the wheels of the chair moved and made him lose his position enough that he had to hold on to the furniture. Without even thinking, Keith had moved his arms around Lance’s thighs as he saw him struggling over the chair. That did nothing but prove Lance right. “See?”, he dared to point out.

 

“Shut up. Next time I’ll let you eat the ground”. Keith frowned and turned back pretending to arrange some things over the table just to hide his incoming blush after realizing where his hands were a couple of seconds ago. He heard Lance laughing and concentrated hard to ignore him until a sound of a door opening caught his attention again.

 

“S’up nerds”.

 

They looked at the source of the voice to see a familiar face smiling at them.

 

“Hey Pidge!”, greeted Keith.

 

“Hello, professor Holt”, said Lance with resentment. He was not still allowed to call her by her nickname.

 

“I just passed by to say goodbye before the break. What the hell is all of that?”, she motioned at all the stuff gathered across the ground.

 

“Just garbage from the bookshelf. We are cleaning it up”.

 

“Yeah, Keith had this _amazing_ idea. We are working today harder than anyone on the building instead of lazing around and wait for the day to end. He’s treating me to lunch tho”.

 

Pidge chuckled and looked at Keith. “Yeah, I’m sure he is”.

 

“You can join us if you want. He’s paying for everything so…”

 

“Nah, I have to get going, I’ll let you enjoy your… lunch”. Keith stabbed her with his gaze as she smirked at them.

 

Lance jumped down the chair and both of them approached Pidge.

 

“So, merry Christmas and all of that crap”, she rushed like she just wanted to get the formality done.

 

Keith hugged her with a little resistance that ceased quickly. “Merry Christmas. Have a nice holiday”.

 

“Ok, ok”, she tapped on his back. “You too”.

 

Keith stepped back. Lance offered her a hand and she shook it back. “Merry Christmas for you too, professor McClain”.

 

“Aawww, are you never calling me by my first name?”

 

“Mmhhh. I’ll think about it. Write it down on your Santa’s letter”.

 

Lance pouted but waved at Pidge, Keith doing the same as she left the office. “Bye!”

 

They turned at each other and Lance spoke first.

 

“This is almost done. I’ll go look for Rolo. He had to know were we can throw away all of this stuff”.

 

“Ask him for something to clean the shelves as well. There is plenty of dust up there”.

 

“Sure. Be back in a minute”.

 

…

 

With the work practically done, they went to Marmora’s, one of their favorite places around campus to eat junk food. Lance had been quieter than usual during their meal, his mind seemed to be somewhere else. He was going back to Cuba later that night to spend the break with his family, so Keith guessed that he was nervous about spending his first Christmas at home without his father. It was going to be a bittersweet celebration.

 

They went back to the office for Lance to grab his things while Keith would finish rearranging all the stuff that they didn’t thrown away back on the shelves.

 

Lance put on his jacket and hung his backpack on his right shoulder. He rubbed the back of his head and approached Keith.

 

“So… I have to get going”.

 

“Yeah, you don’t want to miss your flight”. _How are we gonna say goodbye? Should I hug him? I hugged Pidge before_.

 

“Yeah. So… it’s a goodbye I guess”, Lance lowered his voice as he took a step closer.

 

Keith heartbeat raised again, he would never get used to have Lance so close in front of him. He internally shook his head and decided that he was definitely hugging him before he walked through that door. However, his determination was suddenly interrupted. He stood frozen under the gaze of the other man’s half-shut eyes.

 

Lance rested a hand on Keith’s hip, closed the space between them and put a light kiss on the corner of Keith’s speechless mouth. It wasn’t a kiss right on the lips, but it wasn’t either on the cheek. It lasted for a couple of seconds, maybe three, before Lance pulled back. Keith couldn’t help but close his eyes at the unexpected gently touch.

 

When he opened them again, Lance was genuinely smiling in front of him, biting the left side of his bottom lip and god, Keith couldn’t look away from those lips no matter how much he wanted to.

 

Keith cleared his voice, looked finally up and tried to form some words. “O… Ok…”. ‘ _Ok’??? What it’s wrong with me?_.  “Uhm… merry Christmas?”. _That was lame_.

 

Lance chuckled, amused with the effect he had caused on Keith, who hadn’t blinked at all, and said it back, “yeah, merry Christmas to you too”.

 

They stared at each other for a brief period of time, both smiling like idiots with their faces red as ripe tomatoes, until Lance broke the moment.

 

“I _really_ should get going. If I miss the plane my mom is going to kill me”.

 

“Yeah”. _Seriously brain, just form a sentence with more than two words, I’m begging you._

 

“Goodbye Keith”. Lance looked back before closing the door behind him.

 

“Goodbye”.

 

Lance smiled and left.

 

Keith smiled and touched his mouth with his fingertips, Lance’s lips still ghosting over his own.

 

…

 

**Fri, 16:01 [To: Pidge]**

You are not going to believe this

…

**Fri, 19:53 [From: Lance]**

[Lance _sent a picture_ ]

on the plane rn

i'll text you when i land

 

**[To: Lance]**

Ok

Have good flight :)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: once the holidays are over, they'll need to have TheTalkTM


	7. Day 134

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith exchange gifts, and maybe other things ♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG this turned out so fucking corny  
> I didn’t plan it like that but regret nothing

The first day after winter break Keith had arrived to the office earlier than ever. The excitement of seeing Lance again after the holidays had made him hop from the bed at the first beep from the alarm, which hadn’t happened in like… 28 years.

 

They hadn’t talked about what happened between them before Christmas, but Keith had noticed a change in their interactions through the chat messages. He didn’t want to put a label on what had changed, but both of them had basically passed from ‘texting eventually maybe more that the strictly necessary to imply some interest on the other person’ to ‘knowing exactly what the other is doing at any time of the day with a high dose of shameless flirting’.

 

It was 07:41 am and Keith was sitting on his desk doing nothing in particular. He turned on the computer but he hadn’t even bother to open one single tab. Instead, he grabbed his cell phone and stared at his background picture with a smile on his face. It was a selfie Lance had sent him the second day of his stay at Cuba. Lance was smiling with the ocean behind him, water dropping from his hair to his bare chest and shoulders, indication of the fact that he had been swimming a minute before the picture was taken.

 

Keith opened Lance’s chat to re-read it like he had done a thousand times already.

**Sat, 10:44 [From: Lance]**

[Lance _sent a picture_ ]

 

**[To: Lance]**

Looks good

**[From: Lance]**

the beach?

or me ;)

 

…

**Sat, 11:01 [To: Lance]**

Both

 

**[From: Lance]**

♥♥♥

i knew you’d like it ;)

expect at least one selfie per day

 

**[To: Lance]**

Sounds like a reasonable dose

 

**[From: Lance]**

maybe two

depends on the percentage of shirtlessness

 

**[To: Lance]**

So, guessing the shirtless ones are more valuable

I get one shirtless or two regular?

 

**[From: Lance]**

correct

so that’s it for today

unless

i get some in return

 

**[To: Lance]**

You want me to send selfies?

 

**[From: Lance]**

duh

 

**[To: Lance]**

I’m not that good at taking pictures of my face

 

**[From: Lance]**

i don’t care

it’s the contents not the quality what maters ;)

 

**[To: Lance]**

Ok…

 

…

 

**Sat, 18:55 [To: Lance]**

[You _sent a picture_ ]

 

**[From: Lance]**

ohhhhh

the ponytail is back ♥

is that an apron?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yes

 

**[From: Lance]**

i didn’t know you could cook

 

**[To: Lance]**

Wearing an apron doesn’t imply I can…

 

**[From: Lance]**

lol

true

what are you making?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Well, I have to leave for Christmas Eve tomorrow

 

**[From: Lance]**

yeah, you told me you’re going to shiro’s

 

**[To: Lance]**

And since I have nothing to do for the rest of the break

I’ll probably go somewhere for a few days

I’m thinking of a hike or something

 

**[From: Lance]**

awesome

it will be better than brooding alone in your house

 

**[To: Lance]**

I don’t brood

 

**[From: Lance]**

whatever you say…

anyways

how is that related to your cooking?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yeah, right

The thing is

I’ll be out longer than expected

So I’m cooking basically all the stuff I have in the fridge

It is… interesting

 

**[From: Lance]**

do i get a picture

 

**[To: Lance]**

Mmm… no

 

**[From: Lance]**

it cant be that bad

 

**[To: Lance]**

It doesn’t taste that bad

But it looks horrible

 

**…**

**Sat, 19:23 [From: Lance]**

sorry

dinner time at mcclains

mama has forbidden mobiles at the table and we’ll probably be chatting for hours…

so

goodnight :)

 

**[To: Lance]**

It’s ok

Goodnight

 

…

 

**Sun, 10:14 [To: Lance]**

[You _sent a picture_ ] 

 

**[From: Lance]**

oh

my

god

that is so freaking adorable

is that red sitting on your face?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yep

I wake up to this quite often, but this is the first time I get a picture before she moves

 

**[From: Lance]**

♥♥♥♥♥

wheres black?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Somewhere under the covers around my legs

I feel her moving

 

**[From: Lance]**

lucky bastard

 

**[To: Lance]**

What

 

**[From: Lance]**

what

ANYWAYS

what are you up today?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Basically packing

I leave at afternoon

Yesterday I booked some places to stay

I’m going for a three day route in the mountains

And then I’ll stay around the villages for the rest of the break

I don’t have all sorted out yet

 

**[From: Lance]**

it sounds amazing

i'm sure you’ll have a great time

 

**[To: Lance]**

I hope so

 

**[From: Lance]**

what are you doing with the cats?

 

**[To: Lance]**

I have a neighbor that offered to take care of them

He has a cat too and he already has a spare key just in case something happens

 

**[From: Lance]**

great

 

**[To: Lance]**

What about you?

Any plans today?

 

**[From: Lance]**

i think i'll just go visit some family

marco’s house it’s at the other side of town so i didn’t see them yet

i want to spend some time with the kids

 

**[To: Lance]**

Awesome

Have a good time then

 

**[From: Lance]**

yeah

i will

let me know when you arrive at shiro’s

and you better not be speeding young man

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yes ma’am

 

**[From: Lance]**

♥♥♥

 

…

 

**Mon, 19:16 [From: Lance]**

[Lance _sent a picture_ ]

merry christmas from cuba

 

**[To: Lance]**

Wow

That’s a lot of people

 

**[From: Lance]**

yeah

honestly, i don’t know how many

i lost count

 

**[To: Lance]**

[You _sent a picture_ ]

Merry Christmas from the Shirogane’s

 

**[From: Lance]**

^^

those are shiros parents?

**[To: Lance]**

Yeah

They arrived today

 

**[From: Lance]**

awesome

have a great christmas eve and day

i may of may not have asked for something for you on my santas letter this year…

 

**[To: Lance]**

Oh

It’s that so?

I asked for something for you as well

But I don’t know if you have behaved well enough this year…

 

**[From: Lance]**

i did!

*pouting*

 

**[To: Lance]**

Did you just write ‘pouting’?

 

**[From: Lance]**

yeah

so you have to imagine me pouting

because you’re mean

 

**[To: Lance]**

I don’t have to imagine it

You do it a lot

I have your pouting face well memorized

 

**[From: Lance]**

sure you do ;)

 

**[To: Lance]**

Shut up

 

**[From: Lance]**

are you blushing?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Shut

Up

 

**[From: Lance]**

:))))))))

 

**[To: Lance]**

I gotta go

Shiro’s already pestering me for texting too much

 

**[From: Lance]**

alright but:

1) i know you’re blushing

2) i know you’re lying

 

**[To: Lance]**

I hate you

 

**[From: Lance]**

no you don’t

but i'll let you go with this one

mama’s cooking is waiting

bye

 

**[To: Lance]**

Goodbye

 

…

 

**Fri, 16:02 [To: Lance]**

[You _sent a picture_ ]

I befriended a raccoon

 

**[From: Lance]**

are you serious?

 

**[To: Lance]**

[You _sent a picture_ ]

He’s so fluffy

 

**[From: Lance]**

omg

that is so cute

how did you manage to get a selfie with him?

 

**[To: Lance]**

Let’s say it took me more attempts that I’m willing to confess

 

**[From: Lance]**

lol

you didn’t get scratched or bitten

those things can have rabies

 

**[To: Lance]**

No I didn’t

Thanks for the concern

But this is the nicest raccoon in all existence

I love him already

 

**[From: Lance]**

you are not thinking of bringing him home with you, are you?

 

**[To: Lance]**

…

 

**[From: Lance]**

keith…

 

**[To: Lance]**

Alriiiiight

You’re no fun

 

**[From: Lance]**

how did i end up being the adult one here?

 

**[To: Lance]**

You know I can’t control myself when animals are involved

God, I miss them so much

Look, Coran sent me a picture with them

[You _sent a picture_ ]

 

**[From: Lance]**

keith, my man

is that your neighbor

 

**[To: Lance]**

Yes, why?

 

**[From: Lance]**

he is our dean

 

**[To: Lance]**

He what?

 

**[From: Lance]**

the fucking dean

of our university

 

**[To: Lance]**

Oh

I didn’t recognize him

I think the only picture I saw of him was moustacheless

 

**[From: Lance]**

yeah, his face looks pretty different without it

you better don’t get in bad terms with him

he’s like our super boss

 

**[To: Lance]**

Nah, don’t worry

We get along well

Our cats are friends

 

**[From: Lance]**

of course they are…

 

…

 

Keith smiled like a fool as he scrolled through the last texts they had exchanged. They were a bunch of photos of Keith’s trip, mostly landscapes and various animals with a high rate of pictures of that raccoon he had become fond of. He had even admitted to Lance that he had gotten a little emotional when he had to say goodbye to the little fella. In exchange, they were a lot of selfies from Lance with family members or at the beach. Those last ones were Keith’s favorites. _For no particular reason_ , he tried to convince himself.

 

He reached the bottom of the conversation and stared at the last messages:

 

**Wed, 23:21 [From: Lance]**

finally at home

asleep already?

 

**Wed, 23:37 [From: Lance]**

i guess you are

goodnight then

cant wait to see you ♥

 

 

 

 _Can’t wait to see you_. He hovered over the text bubble with his thumb for a moment and then he blocked the screen again. It was 08:13 already and the other professor hadn’t arrived yet. Keith decided to get some work done to get him entertained and opened the Excel document that served him as an agenda. First thing he had to do was organize the content of the next classes. However, his motivation didn’t last long. The door cracked open and his heart skipped a beat.

 

“Hi”. Lance said from the frame door, smiling shyly.

 

“Hi”, he said back, following him with his eyes as the other went to his chair and turned on the computer. Lance’s eyes were fixed on the screen except for quick glances directed at Keith, who was basically doing the same. Keith was dying to say so many things but he found himself wordless. His mouth dry out of nervousness and anticipation. _Why is this so difficult? Texting was so much easier._ “So…”, he started with a raspy voice, “how was the flight?”

 

“Erm…”, Lance’s thoughts seemed to be elsewhere, “good. The flight was good. I was so tired I was already asleep when the plane took off, so…”

 

“Good”.

 

“Yeah. What about you?”

 

“Mine was good too. No incidences”.

 

“Great”.

 

Keith upheld Lance’s gaze with his mouth partially open, unsure of what to say next. They looked at each other for a moment, until Lance let out a chuckle because of the absurdity of the situation. Keith mirrored him soon until they were both laughing.

 

“Ok…”, resumed Lance regaining his voice as he stood up and walked around the table, “come here, I have something for you”.

 

Keith noded and followed Lance’s instruction. He grabbed a bag that had been kept under his desk and went to the couch. They sat as they usually did, Keith next to the entrance and Lance on the opposite side. Nonetheless, today they seemed to be a little closer.

 

“Alright, me first!”. Lance bended down to take something wrapped from inside his bag, and handed it to Keith. “It’s just a little gift from my parent’s town, I hope you like it”. It was a heavy package, five or six pounds easily.  Keith teared the wrapping with no hesitation and it revealed a cardboard box with a few words imprinted on it.

 

“Cienfuegos”, he could read crossing the front cover diagonally in big letters.

 

“It’s just the name of the town. It translates to ‘a hundred fires’”.

 

“Ok”.

 

“That’s not really important. Read below!”

 

“Cafe en gra… grano… 100% ecologico. Calidad superior”. Keith’s Spanish knowledge was almost nonexistent, but he was pretty sure what the first word meant.

 

“Open it!”. Lance’s face irradiated thrill like an eight year old on Christmas day.

 

Keith unfastened the tying at the top and opened the box. When he had lifted one of the flaps just and inch, a strong smell of coffee filled the room. “Oh my god”, he whispered as he finished with the other flaps. There were four small cardboard bags inside the bigger container, each one closed with a sticker. He lowered his face and took a deep breath through his nose at the opening of the package to be able to enjoy the scent in depth. “Oh god”, he sound that escaped his mouth could easily belong to an amateur porn film.

 

He heard Lance laughing at him and snapped out of his trance, blinking twice before focusing on Lance again.

 

“I guess you do like it”.

 

“Yeah, yes!”. Keith face warmed up with embarrassment. “I love it”.

 

“It’s the same coffee I make each morning. I just thought you would like to have some at home. For the weekends, you know”.

 

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

 

“It’s nothing”, Lance said looking away, obviously flushed.

 

“I’ve got something for you too”, said Keith putting his precious coffee on the floor next to him and picking the bag he had brought that morning. “It’s not as good as yours thought”. Lance took it from his hands and opened it listening to his explanation. “It’s only a thing I found of my trip that reminded me of one thing you had shown me about your grandma and the garden she used to have back in her home. I think it is one of those… I can’t remember the name… whatever, there was an old lady in one of the villages I stayed and she had some of them so I asked for one and…”

 

“Keith”, whispered Lance, putting his hand over the one Keith had resting on his lap and squeezing it. “It’s awesome”, he smiled.

 

“You like it?”. Keith looked down at the spot where Lance’s fingers were over his own and his chest pounded.

 

“I can’t believe you remembered that. Yes, I love it”.

 

He breathed out in relief and smiled. “Of course I remembered. You talked about it for three hours when your mother sent you that picture. What was its name again?”

 

“Mariposa. It’s Cuba’s national flower. It translates to ‘butterfly’”

 

“That’s cool. I had thought that you could keep it here while it doesn’t grow too much, it should get enough sunlight if you put it by the window”.

 

“Yeah. I think I’ll do that”.

 

“Oh, I almost forgot”. He abandoned the couch for a brief moment only to come back with his phone. “The woman that gave me the plant said that she would do it under one condition”.

 

“Which is?”

 

“Smile”. The sound of the camera caught Lance off guard before he had time to pose properly.

 

“What was that?”. Lance moved himself closer to sneak a glance at the screen.

 

“She said I had to send her a photo when the gift was delivered”.

 

“Alright... Let me see it.”

 

“Nope”. Keith smirked and turned around on the couch, his back facing Lance.

 

“Oh, c’mon”, Lance protested. He quickly kneeled on the couch, pressed his chest on Keith’s back and tried to reach the phone extending his arms over Keith’s shoulders. “If you’re gonna send a picture of me to a lady let me see it at least”.

 

“Mmhm”, Keith shook his head while searching through his contact list, trying to ignore the warm feeling around his body.

 

Lance gave up easily with the protesting but never went back to his previous position. Instead, he embraced Keith from behind around his shoulders and watched him tap on one of his contacts with his chin resting over Keith’s right shoulder.

 

 

**Thu, 08:41 [To: Sarah from Drakesbad]**

[You _sent a picture_ ]

Done :)

 

**[From: Sarah from Drakesbad]**

Good morning my boy

I see you kept the promise

What a beautiful man you got there

 

As soon as that line popped up at the bottom of the chat, his thumb traveled fast to the block button and the screen went dark. He felt the other man letting out a small laugh next to his ear as the left arm that was previously resting above him traveled below his own arm and surrounded him until the hand reached the middle of his chest. “Well, she’s not wrong”. Keith was frozen at this point, his brain enable to process all this physical contact he was getting. The device in his hand trembled slightly until Lance’s right hand reached it, his long fingers grabbing both Keith’s hand and phone. “C’mon, it’s not fair”.

 

Lance pressed the same button to unlock it and the background picture filled the screen.

 

“Oh”

 

“I…”, Keith almost tried to make an excuse, but he was rapidly interrupted.

 

“Awwww. I didn’t think you’d like it that much”.

 

“Well”, he cleared his voice and introduced the passcode to close the chat tab, “I did”.

 

“Let me try something”. Lance’s hand hadn’t moved and he was now tapping skillfully on the screen to access the front camera.

 

“What are you…?”

 

“Smile”. The camera sounded again at the exact moment Keith felt Lance’s lips pressed against his cheek with no warning.

 

“Lance!”

 

“Hahaha, look at your face. I think this is a better background”.

 

‘ _Gallery_ ’ > “ _Recent photos_ ’ > ‘ _Use as Home and lock screen’_

 

“There you are”.

 

Phone forgotten on the couch, Keith chuckled and turned his body to face Lance only to find the brightest smile he had ever witnessed. With his left thumb, he slowly traced the line of Lance’s jaw as his hand slid to the nape of his head.

 

“How are you even possible”, he said with a low voice and an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

 

With any hesitation left, he pulled Lance’s head towards his own as he met his mouth halfway.

 

Lance reciprocated quickly, moving his lips gently against Keith’s at a painful and slow but passionate pace. Lance’s hands doubted for a second but they finally landed on Keith’s chest and waist, bringing them even closer as they eagerly depended the kiss. They tasted each other with that strong feeling only possible after months of unrequited desire.

 

After only god knows how many minutes, they broke the union between their lips. Both of them were breathing heavy and smiling as their foreheads and noses brushed.

 

“So…”, started Lance, “I don’t think I remember what were we talking about”.

 

Keith laughed and responded, “Honestly, I’m pretty sure I don’t even remember where I live right now”.

 

They laid back on the couch and talked for the rest of the morning about nothing and everything. About movies, feelings, pets, space, the quality of the cafeteria’s sandwiches and the horrible traffic of the town. In the long run, they’d eventually forget about the silly conversation of that morning, but the feeling of their hands intertwined and the kisses shared that day would never be forgotten.

 

Since that morning and for a long time, Lance and Keith had matching background pictures.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry about the short kiss scene, there will be more ;)


	8. Day 169

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a buildup chapter made of pure cheese, a check on how they’re doing after the last events :)  
> Also featuring Pidge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New year, new chapter!
> 
> I’m sorry for the hiatus, but I kinda needed a break to let the inspiration go back ^_^  
> I hope you have a great 2019!!

“You better miss me”, purred Lance, kissing softly Keith’s lips for the fifth time.

 

“I won’t be able to miss you if you don’t leav…”. Lance shut him up one more time with his lips. “You’re gonna be late”, Keith pushed him away with his hand on Lance’s back, guiding him to the door.

 

“Alriiiiight. You are not fun.”

 

“Whatever… just… go.”

 

Lance opened the door, and turned around.

 

“How am I?”

 

“You’re handsome, elegant and ready to go, just like 20 minutes ago”. Keith adjusted Lance’s turtleneck and let him go.

 

“I know that’s a biased review, but I like to hear it”.

 

 _And I love to say it_ , Keith thought, even tho he was not willing to admit it. “Text me when you get there”.

 

“Will do. Bye”. Lance kissed him once more, this time on the blushed cheek.

 

“Bye”.

 

A month had passed since they started officially dating, although it felt longer. Even though Keith liked to complain about Shiro and Adam’s sappy behavior when they’re together, the truth was that him and Lance had been unbelievable clingy and cheesy for the last few weeks. They had agreed to keep it private at first, but Keith was finding more and more difficult not to reach for Lance’s hand when they were around campus or not to kiss him or touch him whenever he wants, so it turned out they were not that subtle anymore. Not that they cared.

 

It was a Monday morning.  A boring painful Monday morning, but the truth was that it didn’t feel like any other Monday morning. Keith had spent the weekend at Lance’s for the first time since they got together. That implied he had to spend the nights too and well… things happened. Adult things. Like panicking and yelling when a bumblebee entered the kitchen while they were cooking or calling a technician when Lance’s washing machine stopped working in the middle of a cycle and they had to open it with the handle of a spoon and wring out the clothes one by one on the bathtub. Also sex. That was an important part too.

 

That morning, Lance had to leave town for a few hours. He was invited to participate on a round table belonging to a congress hosted at Balmera, a town nearby, so Keith had some time to actually focus and work.

 

At least until a couple of hours later someone knocked at the door.

 

“Come in!”, he shouted after clearing his voice.

 

The door opened just a crack, and a familiar female voice asked “Are you naked?”

 

“What? What would I…?”

 

She stepped inside with a grin on his face. “I don’t know, I just knocked just in case you two were banging on the desk or something”.

 

“Pidge!”

 

A bright laugh escaped her throat as Keith’s face lit up.

 

“Well, as you can see, we are indeed not banging on the desk, so you can come in”.

 

Pidge closed the door behind her and went to sit on Lance’s chair. “Where’s Lance by the way?”

 

“He was invited to a round table at Balmera’s epidemiology congress. He’ll be out for most of the day.”

 

“Oh, that’s great. I heard professor Iverson was giving a lecture too.”

 

“Iverson”, Keith frowned. “He taught at my college when I was a student”.

 

 “I heard he’s kinda douchey, but you can’t deny he’s good at his field”.

 

“Douchey? I almost punched him once. He drove me nuts”.

 

“Why am I not surprised... Anyways, how are the lovebirds doing?”

 

“Don’t… call us that”.

 

 “I see, denying the reality...”, she lifted her glasses with an scrutinizing glare directed at Keith. “I assume everything is ok then?”, resumed Pidge as she stood up and started nosing around the shelves.

 

“Yeah, things are great actually. I spent last weekend at his house”.

 

“Ooohh, you two finally… did the thing?”, she turned around with her eyebrows raised.

 

“It’s none of your business”.

 

“I had to deal with all of your pinning shit for months, Kogane, and now you’re hiding crucial information from me”.

 

Keith said nothing in response. Instead he looked away with his arms crossed and blushed hard.

 

“Never mind, you don’t even have to answer; your face says it all”. Pidge laughed out loud. “You two took long enough”.

 

“Shut up”.

 

Keith’s phone buzzed over his desk.

 

“See? He already misses you.”

 

“That’s not tr…”. He unblocked his phone to check the notification.

 

**Mon, 11:17 [From: Lance]**

[Lance _sent a picture_ ]

missing you

 

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

 

“Nope!” Keith turned around his chair, hiding the screen from an approaching Pidge with maliciousness on her face.

 

“Let me see!” When Keith stood up and held the phone above his head, Pidge knew it would be an impossible task to achieve, but she tried to steal it nonetheless. “Oh my god, is he naked?”, she asked while jumping.

 

“What? What would anyone be naked today?”

 

“I don’t know”, she said between pants. “I just know it annoys you and your face turns red every time I mention it, so I keep asking”.

 

“Well, he’s not naked as you can see”. Keith finally turned on his screen and let her see the picture. “It seems he’s at the auditorium waiting for his turn to speak”.

 

“Awwww, see? I was right, he misses you. You two are gross”.

 

“We aren’t!”

 

“Oh, please, you couldn’t be deeper in the honeymoon phase. Keith, look at you… I’ve never seen you this attached to someone before. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing… it’s just, unlike you?”

 

“I know”, he breathed out shaking his head. “Just… don’t tell Shiro”.

 

That made Pidge chuckle. “I won’t tell him… for now. I’ll just add it to my blackmail material folder”.

 

“That folder must be overflowing”.

 

“The hard disk was no longer big enough, so everything is up on the cloud now”.

 

“You wouldn’t!”

 

“You know I would”.

 

Keith rolled his eyes as a sign of surrender. “How did I turn into this?”

 

“Maybe you just had to find the correct person to be gross with”, Pidge concluded with a shrug. “I’ve never seen you this happy before either”.

 

“That is… also true I guess”.

 

“Aaaalright, that’s enough sentimental stuff for the day. I’m happy for you two, but don’t get too sappy in front of me”.

 

Keith snorted and agreed. “Fair enough”.

 

“Are you free for lunch by the way?”

 

“Yeah. I don’t have any classes until the afternoon.”

 

“Great. Come to my office around one thirty, I want to try that new place near the economics building”.

 

“See you then.”

 

“Bye, don’t be late!”. Pidge closed the door energetically behind her.

 

Keith grabbed again his forgotten phone from his pocket and opened Lance’s chat.

 

**Mon, 11:24 [From: Lance]**

did I broke you again?

the selfie wasn’t even that good…

 

**Mon, 11:31 [To: Lance]**

I was talking to Pidge

She came to annoy me

The selfie was good, but not your best…

 

**[From: Lance]**

yeah, i know which one is your favorite but i cant get my shirt off here ;)

that would be unprofessional

 

**[To: Lance]**

Very unprofessional

At least do it one you’re done with the presentation

 

**[From: Lance]**

that would be interesting to watch

don’t tempt me

 

**[To: Lance]**

:)

How is the congress going?

 

**[From: Lance]**

it's pretty standard

i arrived just in time for the coffee break

that was a win

and now i'm waiting for my turn

i'm supposed to talk around 12

 

**[To: Lance]**

Are you nervous?

 

**[From: Lance]**

not really

well

maybe a little

no exactly nervous, just want it to get done

 

**[To: Lance]**

I’m sure you’ll do great

 

**[From: Lance]**

thanks babe ♥

i hope so

 

**[To: Lance]**

Are you going back here later or you’ll go home directly?

 

**[From: Lance]**

i intend to go back there

i'll text you if I cant make it before you leave

 

**[To: Lance]**

Ok

Good luck J

 

**[From: Lance]**

thanks!

 

 

\---

 

“And then, he bumped into the base of the mic and almost falls down the stage. It was glorious”. Lance was back in the office, reclined in his chair as he narrates his morning adventures.

 

“That is kinda mean, Lance. He could had hurt himself pretty bad”.

 

“Well, he didn’t. So I can be amused about it”.

 

The person Lance was talking about was a former classmate of him. They never got along well, and during their PhD years, they had had more than one or two disagreements. Both of them happened to be at the same round table that morning, and they couldn’t help but come back to their old routine of bickering about the most trivial things, to the amusement of all the people present there.

 

“I see you had fun”.

 

“I had most fun than expected actually. The catering was also impressively good, I would have agreed to go only for one of those sandwiches”.

 

“Pidge and I went to this new place, I don’t remember what it is called…”

 

“The one near economics?”

 

“That one”.

 

“How was it?”

 

“Pretty decent. We only tried a couple of things, but I think you’ll like it”.

 

“Are you asking me on a date, Kogane?”, he said suggestively, with a wink.

 

“Maybe… I’ll think about it”.

 

“I know you’re playing hard to get, but I’ll eventually make you mine”.

 

 _As if you already hadn’t._ Despite of being with Lance for a few weeks now, he had not gotten used to all the shameless flirting going on between them without getting flustered. The worst was when Lance called him by a pet name. It was so disgustingly sweet that never failed to warm his heart.

 

“Can you open the window a bit?”, asked Keith, trying to change the subject.

 

“Awwww, am I making you hot?”, he asked with a smirk of getting the job done.

 

“No… It is _getting_ hot. In general. How don’t you suffocate with that turtleneck?”

 

“How don’t I…? You have the guts to ask? Of course I was suffocating through half of the day! You made me wear it!”

 

“What? How would I make you wear that?”

 

“You really don’t remember, do you?”

 

“Remember what?”

 

Lance reached for the collar of the clothing he was wearing and pulled it down. On the skin covered by it, a huge hickey was revealed, while Keith’s face was changing from a surprised gesture to a flustered one with a bit of amusement at the end.

 

“Oh my god”, he giggled, standing up and walking towards his boyfriend. “I didn’t remember that”.

 

“I can see it. Well, I remembered it pretty well, especially when I put a shirt on this morning and saw it on the mirror”.

 

“Are you sure it was me?”, Keith turned around Lance on his chair to face him, so he could seat on his lap. He pulled down again the collar to take a better look at it.

 

Lance let Keith use him as a couch with no complaints and embraced him around his waist. “ _You_ tell me. I think I have some marks with your teeth on them. I just could call a forensic specialist.”

 

With the other hand, Keith pulled Lance’s head back from the nape of his neck to get better access, and placed his lips over the hickey, replicating his actions from the day before, but gentler this time. Lance seemed to stop breathing.

 

When he pulled back, Keith looked Lance in the eyes and noticed the light pink covering his cheeks. It was rewarding to see that he was able to get that reaction from Lance. “You can’t just do things like that all of the sudden”, he protested.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry”, he said with almost a whisper. “Sorry about the hickey. Won’t do it again”, he apologized before kissing Lance’s neck one more time.

 

“I… I’m not saying you can’t do it”. Lance was breathing heavy and his voice trembled a little. “Just… do it a bit lower next time”.

 

 “Mmhh”, Keith slid his hand from Lance’s neck down his chest to his belly, and kissed him on the jawline, next to his ear. “How much lower…”. Kiss. “do you want me to do it…”. Kiss. “next time?”.

 

“Keith, please…”, Lance almost moaned, just before his boyfriend captured his lips with his own. The kiss was passionate; they had waited for it all day long. They devoted themselves to the moment, with the perfect amount of tongue, teeth and touching. When they parted, both were speechless for some seconds.

 

“I waited for this all day”, admitted Keith, resting his head on Lance’s crookneck while his breathing was returning to normal.

 

“Me too”, replied the other, running his fingers through Keith’s black locks of hair. “You should tie it up more often”.

 

“You think so?”

 

“Mmhm. You know I like it.”

 

The two professors stayed like that for a couple of minutes in a comfortable silence. Keith was enjoying that his hair was played with as much as Lance loved doing it. After a while, Keith broke the quietness.

 

“I had fun last weekend”.

 

Lance nodded in agreement. “Just fun? I think it was amazing.”

 

“It was pretty amazing, yeah. We should repeat it soon”.

 

“I can’t make it next weekend, Verónica is coming”.

 

“Yeah, I know. It’s ok, we’ll do it another time”.

 

“You can come any other night you know. Tomorrow? I promised to skype with my family tonight”

 

“Wednesday works better for me. Are you free?”

 

“Well, I am not now. Wednesday it is.”

 

“Great”.

 

“I think you left your toothbrush by the way”.

 

“Oh… yeah, it could be. It was the spare one I had at home”.

 

“You can leave it if you want”.

 

 

“Sure”, he chuckled. He had no intent of binging it back to his home. “Pidge called us gross”, he said with a giggle.

 

“Well, right now we kinda are. We just started dating, we have all the right to be gross.”

 

“You are damn right”.

 

“I have planned to be gross with you for at least… 30 years. Then, we can stop”.

 

Keith smiled against Lance’s neck and asked. “Are you betting on the long term here?”

 

“I… I guess I do, yeah. You’re stuck now, Kogane, good luck getting rid of me”.

 

“I don’t plan to do it any time soon”.

 

Keith felt a soft kiss on his forehead and a little pat on his thigh.

 

“Keith, honey”.

 

“What is it?”

 

“As much as I love having you on my lap… I can’t feel my legs anymore”.

 

“Oh”, he apologized and stood up. “Sorry”.

 

“I think I need a moment before I can actually move again”.

 

“You know, when I imagined making your legs unable to walk this wasn’t what I was thinking of”, Keith rushed without making eye contact, going to his sit.

 

“Oh. My. God. Keith, you have a filthy mouth”.

 

“I thought that was already clarified”, he smirked.

 

“Keeith, don’t leave me like this. Keeeeeeith!”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is finally coming to an end O_O  
> I have planned only two more chapters (and a short epilogue).
> 
> PS: the bumblebee and the washer machine stories actually happened


	9. Day 234

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are misunderstandings and cute propositions ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another character appears! Yay!

“Remind me again why I had to innovate with the evaluation system instead of sticking with the old methods?”, asked Keith from his desk, his hands running through his hair in desperation.

 

“Because you’re new, young, you still have the motivation and you want to do better”, assured Lance with a smile. “When you’re here long enough, you’ll be grumpy, tired and you’ll hate the world and your students”.

 

“Is that supposed to comfort me?”

 

“Nope. I’m just telling the truth”.

 

“What about you? You’re here long enough already?”

 

“Na-ah”, he shook his head. “I still like my students, but I already hate the system”.

 

“Aarrrgh”. Keith buried his face on his hands and hated the world for a little longer before getting to work again.

 

It was almost the end of the semester, finals were at the turn of the corner. It had been a fruitful yean and Professor Kogane was very proud of his students. Besides, he had gotten pretty decent official and unofficial reviews of his work. To make things easier for the people to pass his classes, ha had had the idea of divide the lessons up in little assignments more affordable to the students. The result: it was almost finals time and the had a ton of papers to review and none of the finals he was supposed to throw were ready.

 

**Fri, 10:19 [From: Shiro]**

[Shiro _sent a picture_ ]

This looks lavender to you?

 

“God no”, Keith protested, checking the notification on his phone.

 

“Shiro again?”

 

“Yeah”.

 

“What is it this time?”

 

“It’s a picture of a napkin. He asks if it looks… lavender? It’s that even a color?”

 

Lance chuckled and left his chair to go sit on Keith’s side of the desk to take a better look. “Yes, it is a color. Let me see.” He grabbed the phone from Keith’s hand and stared at it for a couple of seconds. “It’s not lavender, it looks darker to me, but it could be the shadowing of the picture… I’m not sure”.

 

“Alright. I’ll just write that”.

 

**[To: Shiro]**

Lance says it looks darker

But it could be the shadowing

He’s not sure

 

**[From: Shiro]**

Are you both at the office?

 

**[To: Shiro]**

Yes

Why…?

 

**[From: Shiro]**

I’m on my way

 

“He’s panicking and he’s coming over”, Keith lamented to his understanding boyfriend, who was already caressing his shoulder.

 

“He said that?”

 

“No, but I know he’s panicking. He hadn’t stopped for the last week”.

 

“Well, it’s only one week before the wedding, I’d be panicking too”.

 

“No, I know you both and I know you won’t be panicking at this level”.

 

Lance laughed, and shook his head, “I guess we’ll see”. He winked at Keith and left for his spot again, leaving a warm feeling in Keith’ chest.

 

Half an hour later the door opened.

 

“Hello!”, a man greeted at the door.

 

Lance stood up and went to shake his hand. “Hi Shiro! Nice to see you again”.

 

“Hi”, said Keith from his chair.

 

It was not like Keith disliked Shiro, actually the opposite, but for the last days he was staying at his house and Keith had to suffer the ‘last days before the wedding’ panic attacks and he was kind of avoiding him at this point.

 

“Hello Lance, and… Keith”.

 

“What are you here for?”, the dark haired professor snapped.

 

“Actually, I came to talk to Lance”.

 

“To me? What can I do for you?”. He was more than happy to offer help.

 

“Colors”

 

“Colors?”

 

“Yes! I need color advice, and clearly I’m not getting it from Keith”.

 

“Ok, ok, come here, I’m the master of colors”.

 

Keith watched as his step brother and his boyfriend sat on the couch. Shiro, with his phone on hand, asking innumerable questions about items related to the incoming wedding. Flowers, napkins, carpets, bowties… apparently all those colors mattered.

 

He and Adam were getting married, at last. Their relationship hadn’t been easy due to their military duties, but that was in the past now and they decided to spend their lives together as the grossest couple on earth. Or that is what Keith liked to called them. Not that he was going to admit that he and Lance were currently running for that title.

 

“So, what are you wearing to the ceremony?”. Lance seemed to have satisfied all of Shiro’s questions, and now they were just chatting.

 

“Me? Am I invited?”, asked Lance with a raised eyebrow.

 

“What? In what alternate universe would you not be invited? Keeeeith?”

 

“Umh?”. He was still immersed in his work, not paying much attention to the chit chat between the other two.

 

“Did you not invite Lance to the wedding?”

 

“Of course I invited him! I think…”

 

“You did not officially invite me, Keith. I would remember it”.

 

“I thought it was implied”.

 

“How is it a wedding invitation _implied_?”

 

“I don’t know! You really thought you weren’t coming?”

 

“I… I don’t know, maybe it was an intimate wedding and you wouldn’t want me around”.

 

“Lance, I’m literally the groom here, well, one of the grooms, and I’m straightway inviting you to my wedding since that inept boyfriend of yours wasn’t capable of it. I’ll be glad to have you around at my ceremony”. Shiro smiled and offered a hand, which Lance took with affection.

 

“It’ll be an honor to be part of your wedding”.

 

“Ok, so, what are you wearing?”, Shiro smiled with malice this time.

 

“Oh boy, I have like zero clothes for that! Keeeith!!”

 

“Great. Now I have two babies panicking.”

 

“Keith, c’mooon we have to go shopping”.

 

Shiro laughed, content with the effect he has caused on Lance (and Keith) and excused himself.

 

“Well, it seems that you two have work enough, I should get going”.

 

“Shiro! Don’t leave us like this! It is your fault!”.

 

The other man was already leaving the room. “Goodbye! See you at home, Keith!”.

 

“Well,” started Lance, talking now directly to Keith, “technically it is your fault. You never said I was going to the wedding”.

 

“I thought you guessed. I mean, we do practically everything together, I never thought of the possibility of you not coming”. Keith pouted a little, trying to ease the non-apology.

 

“Oh please, don’t start”.

 

“Don’t start what?”

 

“Making that face. It won’t work”.

 

Keith looked at Lance in the eyes and pouted even more, this time forcing it.

 

“Stop it”. Commanded Lance.

 

“Make me”, Keith said with a smirk.

 

“Oh, I will make you”. Lance stood up from the couch and walked towards him. He stopped right in front of Keith and, with his left hand, he lifted Keith’s chin. “You know”, he said right before kissing those lips with tenderness, “I know the perfect punishment for you”.

 

Keith couldn’t help but melt to the kiss, letting his guard down. “Which is?”, he blushed a little, wondering about what Lance could have in mind.

 

“I’ll go shopping this afternoon”, he kissed him again, slowly. “And you’re coming with me”.

 

“What?”, Keith’s face fell. “You know I hate it”.

 

“Yes, it wouldn’t be a punishment otherwise. Besides, you’ll be able to see me in all kind of hot outfits, so don’t be a crybaby about it”.

 

“Okkk…”. That idea kind of convinced him that it wouldn’t be that terrible.

 

Lance released his face and went to the couch once again. For some time, he seemed to be distracted with his phone in hand, but his face was furrowed, so Keith resumed.

 

“I can’t believe you thought you weren’t invited”.

 

“You never said a thing!”

 

“I thought it was obvious, ok?”

 

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then both of them started laughing.

 

“You’re unbelievable, Kogane”.

 

Lance’s phone buzzed.

 

“It’s… Hunk. He wants to know if we’re free on Saturday”.

 

“I guess that depends of how quick you find clothes for the wedding. So I’m pretty sure it’s a ‘no’”.

 

“Ha, ha, very funny. I bet I buy something today”.

 

“You wanna bet again? Last time didn’t end that well for you”, Keith smirked, taking a sip from his red thermos.

 

“I didn’t hear you complaining… What about the loser makes the coffee for the next year?”

 

“You’re on”.

 

Keith stood up and followed Lance’s steps, dropping himself next to him on the couch and passing his arm around his shoulders. Lance melted instantly and readjusted himself into Keith’s warmness.

 

“I’m sorry. I should have said something about the wedding.”

 

“It’s ok. I’ll punish you soon enough”.

 

Lance didn’t saw Keith rolling his eyes, but he knew he was doing it. They stayed in silence for a moment, as Lance scrolled down an app he recently had downloaded for house searching. The contract in his current house was coming to an end and the owner wanted to raise the rent an abusive amount, so he was searching for a new apartment.

 

“Did you find anything yet?”, asked Keith, after some places popped up on the screen.

 

“Nothing really great. A couple of them were… suitable, but… meh”, he shrugged.

 

“I’m sure you’ll find something nice soon enough”.

 

“I mean, there _are_ nice places, but look at the rent! They aren’t affordable, even for our salaries. How do students find places to live nowadays?”

 

“I don’t know, moonlighting?”

 

Lance silently nodded, keeping his search. “When are you going to get your stuff by the way? There are like three boxes, and I’m not moving them”.

 

“I don’t know.”, Keith mumbled, running his hand through Lance’s hair. “Feeling lazy”.

 

“Well, you better do it before I have to move out”. Silence. “Unless…”

 

“Unless?”. Keith stopped his movements for a second, waiting for Lance to continue with his proposition.

 

“Unless you don’t do it. I… I can bring them, to my new home. With you, I mean. You practically live there anyways.”

 

“Are you asking what I think you are asking?”

 

“I don’t know”, he said, nervously. “You don’t want to?”

 

Keith breathed out, slowly, with a smile on his face. He couldn’t quite believe it. One year before he hadn’t even met Lance, and now he was asking him to move together. Because that’s what’s he’s asking, wasn’t it? And the best of it it’s that it feels… unforced. Their relationship has grown so much in the last months that them moving together was just… natural progress.

 

Keith turned his head and searched for Lance’s mouth with a movement he had already memorized. “I’d love to”. Kiss.

 

He came back to rest his head against Lance’s and heard him letting out a breath of relief, and he knew he was smiling too. “Great”.

 

Keith grabbed the phone and went to the search settings.

 

_Settings > Price_

 

He doubled the rent of the apartments they were looking for.

 

_Pets > Allowed_

 

It’s not like he would leave Red and Black behind.

_Results : 11_

 

“Oh.”

 

“Well, that makes it easier”, snorted Lance.

 

“There are not much houses with pets allowed. I’m sorry.”

 

“Sorry? Don’t be. I’m happy to have three new roommates”. Lance moved his free hand to lace it with Keith’s. “I love you, you know?”

 

They hadn’t said the words before, and yet, Keith knew.

 

“I love you too. More than you think”.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned out a bit shorter, but I’m happy with the results.
> 
> Only one chapter left! I think I’ll publish the chapter and the epilogue the same day, and it’ll be finished.
> 
> Thanks for the support ♥♥♥

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> Let me know if you liked it, feedback is always welcome :D
> 
> Here's my tumblr if you want to check it out: [every--star--that--ever--was](every--star--that--ever--was.tumblr.com)


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